Domestic workers struggle to survive
Amid the current economic crisis plaguing the world, Viet Nam has managed to secure the ninth lowest unemployment rate in the world, with just over two per cent of the population in search of a job. This statistic, however, veils over the many paid employees of the domestic sector who are struggling to survive.
These latest figures from Gallup.com, together with data collected by the General Statistics of Viet Nam (GSO) in 2011 comes after the amazing declarations from 24/7 Wall Street that Viet Nam is a country where everyone has a job.
Stories from inside the country paint a wholly different story however, as worker Nguyen Thi Nhung has testified. Nhung, 33, who works in a printing company in Cau Giay District, south of the capital city Ha Noi, used to earn a monthly income of VND6 million (US$300). But now, hard times have fallen on her and her wages have plummeted to half that amount or even less. For Nhung and many like her, "having a job does not mean you have enough to live".
