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Impacts of Price Hikes on the
Lives and Livelihoods
of Poor People in Viet Nam
increased the number of working hours in order to offset the higher cost of living. For example, motorcycle
taxi drivers now work fewer hours during the day (as their clients have to travel by bus to save money) and
more hours after 9:00 pm when there are no bus services. Street vendors in Hai Phong share lodging with
20-30 other people at only 4,000 – 5,000 VND/night/person.
“I come from Ha Bac. I moved to work here as a street vendor two years ago. I have two
small children, one in grade 4 and the other in kindergarten. I left them with my husband and
my parents-in-law. I want to earn some extra income here and save money to send my
children to school. I work in the street all day so I only rent a place to sleep at night near the
railway station. The place is only 20m 2 and I share it with 16-17 other women. The place is
small and there are only 3-4 fans so it can get very warm in summer time. Sometimes I
cannot sleep well. However, I have no choice as it is cheap - only 4,500 VND/night. I need to
save money to be able to go home a few times each month. I also go home at harvest time
so if I rent lodging on a monthly basis it will cost a lot more”.
(Street vendor in Hai Phong Mrs. N.T. H, 34 from Ha Bac province)
Increased linkages between rural and urban areas. Inflation has actually strengthened linkages between
rural and urban areas. People migrating from rural to urban areas to find jobs and earn extra income to
send home now have to depend more on the families in their home villages. Data from a survey in Hai
Phong show that many migrants return home for rice, vegetables and eggs as they are more expensive in
the cities. Some have also sent their children home to stay with their grandparents. “The urban poor is
becoming more and more reliant on the rural poor and vice versa”.
Mrs. N.T.M. in Unit 34, Niem Nghia ward, Le Chan district, Hai Phong City. Mrs. M. came from
Thuy Nguyen district. Her household is recognized as “near-poor”. She has two sons. The
youngest is 25 years old and studying in the south. Every month she has to send him 400,000
VND. The older son is 30 years old and was electrocuted when he was in grade five so he has
mental problems. He has to stay in the house. The family lives in a single-storey grade 4 house
which is in disrepair. Medication for the disabled son costs two million VND/year. Mrs. M. has
to stay at home to look after her son. Fortunately her husband has a pension and does some
work with a Buddhist temple nearby so he can earn 1-2 million each month.
Since Tet holiday, prices have risen. Mrs. M feels they are worse-off. “The fridge is empty. We
in fact no longer use the fridge”. She spends 50,000 VND each day now and has to “to buy
enough food. Before we had meat every day. Now we do only every 2-3 days. Before Tet we
went out for breakfast (10,000 VND for each of us). Now I have to cook at home”.
Also since the Tet holiday, Ms. M has been going to her parents’ place in Thuy Nguyen district
more often. “Before Tet I went every 15-30 days. Now I go every 2-3 days for vegetables,
chicken and eggs for the family’s daily meals. We would not have survived without the
support of my parents. What they give us every month must be worth several hundreds of
thousand VND”.
(Interview with Mrs. N.T. M., Unit 34, Niem Nghia ward, Le Chan district,
Hai Phong, June 2008)
Mrs. N. T. B, 41, of a poor household in Unit 6, Niem Nghia ward, Le Chan district, Hai
Phong. When asked about her family, she burst into tears. Her husband had a car accident
and was seriously injured. It took him two years to receive treatment without any success. He
passed away two months ago leaving behind a loan of more than 100 million VND that had
been used for his treatment. She and her two children are living in a grade 4 flat of only 42
m 2 . Two years ago, Mrs. B had to quit her job to look after her husband. She finds it
impossible to find a new job.
Both of her children are at school. Since the price of rice doubled after the Tet holiday, Mrs.
B feels even more miserable. She has had to send her children to the countryside to stay with
her parents. She thinks that except for rice, everything else is easier to find in the country. She
says “I never thought that my parents in the countryside who are very poor and never have
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