The Impact of Domestic Remittances on Left-Behind Older People in Vietnam

Abstract:In the context of an insufficient social protection system the economic lives of older people, especially those living in rural areas, are greatly changed with socio-economic risks that are associated with the strong rural-urban mobility of younger generations. This paper aims to investigate the impacts on the economic well-being of old-age parents of domestic remittances, sent by their children who have migrated from rural to urban areas. Using data from the Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey (VHLSS) in 2004, 2008 and 2012 with logistic regression models, we found that domestic remittances played an essential role in improving income/ expenditure per capita and reducing poverty rates of older people’s households. Domestic remittances also contributed to reduce Gini coefficients, which were calculated using both income and expenditure per capita.