Officials from the Ministry of Health unveiled a project that will provide financial support to families with two girls as an incentive to diminish the problem of gender imbalance in Vietnam.
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| Families that only have one or two girls may be given support |
The project, to be carried out between 2013 and 2020, will provide money to families who have only girls. The daughters will also be given preference related to insurance, tuition fees and bank loans after they graduate. At the same time the parents will be entitled to more social welfare benefits.
Le Canh Nhac, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Health’s General Office for Population and Family Planning, said that the gender imbalance is a pressing problem in Vietnam.
From 1999 to 2005, the birth ratio was around 104-109 males for every 100 females. However, in the period between 2006 and 2012, the ratio increased to between 109.8 to 112.3 males per 100 females in both cities and rural areas.
In urban areas parents often have the ability to choose the gender of their child during pregnancy. In rural areas this is more common during the second pregnancy, and especially for the third. The ratio for third pregnancies nationwide is about 120 males for every 100 females. Statistics show that 87% of parents in the cities, and 75% of those in rural areas, know the gender of their child before birth.
Still, between 2009 and 2012 the imbalance in gender ratio for births increased by an average of 0.6% per year, which was lower than the 1.15% between 2005 and 2008. However the current increase is still considered high.
"Experts have said that Vietnam may lack 2.3-4.3 million women by 2050. This means that men would have to delay marriage or will find it hard to find partners. Women may also face higher risks of human trafficking or rape." Nhac said.
Duong Quoc Trong, Director of the Ministry of Health’s General Office for Population and Family Planning, said that there is a need to support those families who choose to have daughters, along with an information programme and strict penalties for gender selection.
"Gender ratio equality is not the only issue. We need other preferential policies toward women as well. Families in Vietnam often want to have sons to carry on their names. Since sons are considered by many as the 'pillar of the family', we need to provide financial support to families with girls. Hopefully this will be an incentive for families that would otherwise choose to have boys," Trong said.
In a survey, 59% of those asked said they wanted to have sons to have someone to take care of them in their old age. Only 11% said they wanted to have girls, while 13% said that having a daughter was a financial burden.
Trong estimated that it would take 50 years for people's attitudes to change about gender preference as well as that of having smaller families instead of the traditional large one.
He also pointed out the fact that China has instituted similar policies towards girls, such as tuition fee support and preferential treatment for pension benefits for parents who have only girls.
The project has been submitted and is awaiting evaluation. Trong hoped the project could be implemented in 2013 because it could take 15 to 20 years to see the results.
