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Impacts of Price Hikes on the
Lives and Livelihoods
of Poor People in Viet Nam
Table 4.1: Changes to monthly income of migrant workers between 2007 and 2008 (%)
Hai Phong Go Vap district Average
Unchanged 45.0 40.0 42.5
Less than 10 percent increase 6.7 21.7 14.2
10-20 percent increase 33.3 20.0 26.7
20 – 30 percent increase 10.0 5.0 7.5
Decrease 0 6.7 3.3
Not known 5.0 6.7 5.8
Source: Questionnaire survey of 120 migrant workers in Hai Phong and HCMC (June-July 2008)
Expenditure patterns. There is a notable difference in expenditure priorities between the local urban poor
and the migrant poor. The local poor give top priority to children’s education. Next on the list are essential
items such as rice, electricity, water and weddings/funerals before other food products and domestic
supplies.
The migrant poor prioritize remittances to send to their families (to pay for their children’s education and
keep some savings for their return to the country side). Therefore while working in the cities, they accept
the temporary hardship and minimize food expenditures to save money. Nevertheless they still have to pay
two to four times as much for water and electricity as the local residents (at least 2,000 VND per kWh of
electricity and 7,000 VND per m3 of water which are the highest rates on the price list). Lodging charges
have also gone up by at least 20-30 percent in the past year.
Three to five migrant workers often share a lodging of 10 - 15 m 2 . Rents in the two cities are different.
Hai Phong is cheaper: between 300-500 thousand VND/month with bathroom facilities. In HCMC there
are two types of lodging: one with separate bathroom facilities at 600 – 800 thousand VND/month;
one with bathroom facilities shared with 3-6 other lodgings at 400-500 thousand VND/month. The
poorer workers who have to save money to send back to their families often rent the latter. They also
have to pay for electricity at a rather high rate of 2,000 – 3,000 VND/unit.
Figure 4.3 indicates the following expenditure break-down of the gross income of 1.6 - 1.7 million
VND/month of a typical migrant worker:
• Food (largest share) 27 percent in Hai Phong and more than 35 percent in HCMC.
• Lodging (inclusive of rental, electricity, water, garbage collection, security service): nearly 7 percent
in Hai Phong and 17 percent in HCMC.
• Savings for personal use and remittances: 28 percent in Hai Phong and 23.5 percent in HCMC
• Weddings/Funerals: nearly 9 percent in Hai Phong and 6 percent in HCMC, even more than
expenses related to clothing, entertainment and travels.
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