ABSTRACT

Older persons in Vietnam have witnessed major upheavals and substantial social change over recent decades. They have survived famines, decades of warfare, and pronounced socioeconomic and political change. By the 1960s, Vietnam had begun to promote a planned economy in the northern region through which the state tried to supplant the family as the organizer of agricultural and industrial production. The state also assumed primary responsibility for the welfare of its citizens, including older persons. However, due to inefficiencies in that system, the Vietnamese government has attempted to disengage from its former obligations through a series of market reforms instituted since the 1980s. Among these reforms, the state now emphasizes that families, as well as other institutions in the private sector and civil society, should contribute significantly to the care of older persons, as well as to social welfare more generally.