New Social Insurance Policy 2025: More Comprehensive Welfare for Vietnamese Citizens

Date: 2025.05.30

On July 1, 2025, the revised Social Insurance Law of 2024 will officially come into effect, marking a significant milestone in Vietnam’s social welfare policy. With a series of strong adjustments – from reducing the contribution period required to receive a pension, expanding the scope of voluntary social insurance participants, to adding benefits for freelance workers – the new law is expected to bring millions of people back into or for the first time access the social safety net.

Let’s explore some of the most notable new points in the social insurance policy that will be applied from early July 2025 with Help All!

1. Expanding pension eligibility – only 15 years of social insurance contributions required

A groundbreaking change in the 2024 Social Insurance Law is the reduction of the minimum number of years of social insurance contributions from 20 years to 15 years to receive a monthly pension. According to Article 74 of Law No. 41/2024/QH15, this opens a new door for millions of informal workers, freelance workers, or those who lost their jobs before meeting the contribution period requirement. With the new policy, as long as they reach the retirement age as stipulated and have at least 15 years of social insurance contributions, workers can confidently enter old age with a stable income. According to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, this policy could help more than 1.5 million people who previously withdrew their social insurance once to return to the social security system, instead of being excluded from the social safety net as before.

2. Legal Recognition of Social Retirement Allowance

For the first time, the Social Insurance Law incorporates social pension allowance into the legal framework, creating a new “safety net” for elderly individuals who have never participated in or do not qualify for a pension. According to Chapter IX and Article 5, individuals aged 75 and above (reduced from the previous 80 years) will receive a monthly allowance guaranteed by the state budget. Particularly for the poor and near-poor, the eligible age is reduced to just 70 years. This is a humane step, reflecting the spirit of “no one is left behind” in the State’s social welfare policy. According to the Government’s proposal in 2024, it is expected that over 3 million elderly people will benefit from this policy in the initial phase.

3. Maternity Benefits

– Previously, voluntary social insurance (SI) participants were only entitled to a single benefit, which was retirement, making many freelance workers feel less motivated to participate. But from July 1, 2025, according to Clause 1, Article 95 of the 2024 Social Insurance Law, this group will receive a one-time maternity allowance of 2 million VND for each child born, funded by the state budget.

Although the allowance is not large, adding new benefits to the voluntary social insurance package is an important step forward, especially since freelance workers currently make up 55% of the national workforce. This policy is expected to untangle the “knot” regarding the attractiveness of voluntary social insurance, thereby moving closer to the goal of universal coverage by 2030.

– Pregnant female workers are entitled to maternity leave to go for prenatal check-ups up to 5 times, each time not exceeding 2 days, regardless of geographical location or the health status of the fetus. Previously, only special cases were allowed to take 2 days off each time.

4. Preservation instead of one-time withdrawal

The situation of workers withdrawing their social insurance in one lump sum is becoming increasingly common, raising concerns about the sustainability of the Social Insurance Fund and long-term welfare. To address this, the 2024 Social Insurance Law (Articles 60 and 73) has designed a more flexible mechanism: allowing workers to withdraw a portion, preserve the remaining part, and continue participating in the future to qualify for a pension. Additionally, there are support measures, counseling, and encouragement for workers to retain their contribution periods. This policy not only protects the rights of the workers themselves but also helps stabilize the Social Insurance Fund against the wave of one-time withdrawals – which exceeded 800,000 cases per year during the 2022–2023 period.

5. Administrative Procedure Reform in Social Insurance

According to Article 7 of the amended 2024 Social Insurance Law, social insurance will apply information technology to process online records, minimizing waiting time and costs for participants. The issuance of electronic social insurance books and electronic health insurance cards will be widely implemented, helping citizens easily monitor and manage their benefits.

Administrative procedure reform in social insurance not only facilitates convenience for citizens but also enhances the efficiency of state management in this field.

6. Expanding the scope of voluntary and compulsory social insurance participants

+ From July 1, 2025, according to Article 6 of the amended 2024 Social Insurance Law, the scope of voluntary social insurance participation will be expanded. It will include not only individuals aged 15 and above who are not subject to compulsory participation but also include:

– Workers without contracts and not receiving salaries from organizations

– Individuals with labor contracts but not subject to compulsory participation

– Individuals who have stopped working but do not yet qualify for a pension or unemployment benefits

+ The new law also adds 5 groups of individuals subject to compulsory social insurance participation, including:

– Workers without labor contracts but with stable income from their jobs

– Workers with labor contracts of less than 1 month

– Enterprise managers not receiving salaries

– Non-specialized workers at the commune level

– Foreign workers in Vietnam with work permits (providing more detailed obligations for social insurance participation to avoid missing eligible individuals)

This policy aims to attract millions of freelance and informal workers – currently accounting for about 55% of Vietnam’s workforce – to participate in the social insurance system. This is an important step in the roadmap to realize the goal of “universal social insurance” by 2030, increasing the number of participants from the current 17.5 million to over 23 million people.

7. Regulations on voluntary social insurance contributions

According to Article 8 of the amended 2024 Social Insurance Law, the voluntary social insurance contribution rates are specified as follows:

+ The monthly contribution rate is 22% of the monthly income of the voluntary social insurance participant, including:

– A minimum equal to the basic salary.

– A maximum equal to 20 times the basic salary.

+ Voluntary social insurance participants can choose a contribution rate that suits their financial capacity, but it must not be lower than the minimum rate and not exceed the maximum rate. Specifying the voluntary social insurance contribution rates helps citizens easily select a contribution rate that matches their income and financial capacity, while ensuring long-term social welfare benefits.

Conclusion:

The revised 2024 Social Insurance Law, effective from July 1, 2025, not only represents a reform but also clearly reflects the humane and inclusive orientation of the State in building a sustainable, fair, and suitable social welfare system for the current labor market. From easing pension eligibility conditions, expanding the scope of participants, adding maternity benefits, encouraging social insurance preservation, to establishing flexible contribution rates, all aim towards the goal of universal social insurance coverage by 2030.

This is a golden opportunity for workers – whether in the formal or informal sector – to better understand their rights and obligations, proactively participate, and protect their future welfare. Help All believes that with these innovations, social insurance will not just be a policy but will become a true “safety shield” for millions of Vietnamese workers.