Changing Transitions to Adulthood in Vietnam's Remote Northern Uplands: A Focus on Ethnic Minority Youth and their Families

• Main Authors: TEERAWICHITCHAINAN, Bussarawan, Vinh, Hac Van, Phuong Lan, Nguyen Thi
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2007
• Subjects: Vietnam; Youth; Ethnic minorities; Poverty; Asian Studies; Race and Ethnicity; Sociology
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/963; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/2218/viewcontent/Viet_YFStudy_FinalReport_fulls.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Vietnam’s rapid economic growth has provided young Vietnamese new opportunities unheard of in their parents’ generation. This is, however, not the case for ethnic minority youth. Many of them are among the poorest, least healthy, and least educated. Ethnic minorities, who tend to live in remote mountainous areas, account for 15 percent of Vietnam’s 84 million total population and, according to a recent estimate, 61 percent of them are poor. Evidence suggests that despite recent efforts of the Government of Vietnam in promoting poverty reduction in remote areas, a majority of ethnic minorities have not yet experienced positive change, contrary to their Kinh (i.e., ethnic Vietnamese) neighbors who have enjoyed substantial improvement in living standards. In 2007, well over half of ethnic minorities ages 15-29 grew up in impoverished households. Many of these young people have already taken or will soon take on economically active and reproductive roles as young adults. Some will migrate out of their remote villages to look for jobs and other opportunities and will presumably leave behind protective environments provided by their families and local communities.