The new market economy (Doi Moi) in Viet Nam and its impact on young people

Rosanne M. Rushing, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Loma Linda University School of Public Health
Charlotte Watts, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

The new market economy in Viet Nam has had a profound impact on the socio-demographic dynamics among young people in rural areas. Much of Viet Nam’s wealth rests within the larger cities. The widening gap of prosperous urban areas and poorer rural areas has caused significant migration from rural to urban areas. The increase in wealth in the cities has also given rise to increased monetary expectations at the village level; these expectations and needs are both real and perceived. Numerous families draw upon their daughters’ unskilled labour through migration to urban areas. This study aimed to better understand the recent demographic changes in youth migration and employment and the effect on young women. The study found that parents, key informants and young migrant women now working as sex workers, universally cited the new market economy and wealth in the city as the reason for migration and work.