This  is  the  second  of  two  reports  written  for  the  United  Nations Development  Programme  in Viet  Nam  to explore the issues of income, poverty and social security in Viet Nam and which follow on from the Policy Dialogue Paper entitled Beyond HEPR: A Framework for an Integrated National System of Social Security in Viet  Nam  published  in  2005,  which  put  forward  general  principles for  comprehensive  social  security programmes in Viet Nam (Justino 2005).  In this report we look exclusively at the position of the elderly in Viet Nam and answer several key questions about their circumstances as found in the 2004 Viet Nam Household Living Standards Survey (VHLSS).

The  approach  of  this  report  is  empirical  and  descriptive  and  Part 1 continues  by  outlining how  elderly Vietnamese fit into the overall demographic structures of Viet Nam.  Part 2 then looks at elderly economic activity  while  Part 3  that  describes  their  health  profile.  Part  4  describes incomes  of  the  elderly  and  then focuses on social security and remittances, which are particularly important sources of income. Part 5 then describes the poverty profile and Part 6 brings together the papers findings and draws some conclusions.