Some readers believe: “Pensions are based on civil servant salaries before retirement, so the salary increase for civil servants should be reflected in pension increases to ensure fairness and security.”
Reader Minh Tran Trong argues: “Social insurance fees are based on salaries, so when civil servant salaries increase, pensions should also increase proportionally.”
Reader Pham Van Chuong comments: “Civil servant salaries have increased by 23.5%, but pensions have only increased by 8%, which is too little. It should be increased by at least 15% to be reasonable.”
After receiving some feedback, the author summarizes the salary increases for civil servants and pensions over the past 13 years (from 2010):
From the compiled data above, it can be seen that the adjustments to salary increases for civil servants and pensions usually have equivalent percentage rates. This has created consensus and fairness between pensioners before and after salary increases, with minimal differences.
However, this time, before the expected salary increase on July 1, 2024, there are proposals to increase pensions at a much lower rate compared to the expected salary increase for civil servants. For example, the proposal by the Social Insurance of Vietnam suggests an 8% increase in pensions, which has faced opposition as it is considered too low compared to the salary increase of civil servants (around 30% – as mentioned by Minister of Internal Affairs Pham Thi Thanh Tra in the article “When the average salary increases by 30%, what about the lowest salary of civil servants?” published on February 18, 2024 by Dan Tri) and does not align with the government’s salary adjustment practices over the past 10 years. This could potentially create a significant discrepancy in pensions before and after July 1, 2024.
To ensure fairness and minimize discrepancies in pensions for retirees before and after July 1, 2024, it is necessary to increase the percentage of pension increases to match the percentage of salary increases for civil servants, as has been done for the past 13 years.
