Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 04/2010

The Impacts of the Global Economic Crisis on Migration Patterns in Viet Nam

March 2010

Oxfam Publishing

Abstract

Over the past decade, Viet Nam has made significant progress in terms of its development and poverty reduction. However, the current global economic crisis is negatively affecting the Vietnamese economy and potentially threatens to undermine Viet Nam’s impressive poverty reduction record. To assess and monitor the ongoing impacts of the crisis on poor people, over the course of 2009, Oxfam and ActionAid Vietnam, in close collaboration with the Viet Nam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS), and with significant support from AusAID, have undertaken a series of rapid assessments of the effects of the economic crisis on migrant workers and their families in both formal and informal sectors. Findings have been used to inform government agencies and representative bodies at different levels. This paper discusses the results of these assessments including the diverse regional structures of the migrant population. It highlights the major changes in urban labour markets, and how they relate to changes in rural welfare and in rural-urban migration. The first assessment brought up the importance of “linkages” to the rural areas and clearly showed the interconnectedness of labour markets in urban/peri-urban areas and rural welfare. The second assessment showed the importance of rural areas in providing a strong foundation for the country in coping with the economic crisis.