migration, human resources, employment and

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planning. CONCLUSION .... City on education, medical care and literacy have been increased. ... of Economic Research of HCMC was assigned by the ... 20 to 30 thousand inhabitants, it was not possible ... of information about each household member, ...... They do not have enough certification for ...... vu THIEN CHUY.
ECONOMI.C RESEARCH OF HOCHIMINH CITY

INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMI,

NHA XUAT XUATBAN G IA BAN eHINH TR! TR! Quae GIA

VIE/93/P02 PROJECT

24 Ha N9i NQi

24 Quang Trung - Ho OT: 8252008 FAX 84-4-25188 1

OT: FAX:: 84-4-251881

TiMDQC *** - Chinh sach, che d9 v@ v~ vay van d~ giai quyet vi~c lam lam..

TRUNG TAM NGHIEN CUu DAN s6 vA NGUON LAO DONG BO LAO DONG-THVONG BINH vA VA xA HO!: tt,1 do den Dang Nai va Vilng Vung Tau. Tau. - Di dan tJ.;i

c

z

~

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MIGRATION, HUMAN RESOURCES,

EMPLOYMENT

AND URBANIZATION

IN HOCHIMINH CITY

~

NATIONAL POLITICAL PUBLISHING HOUSE

INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH OF HO CHI MINH CITY VIE/93/P02 PROJECT

..

MIGRATION, HUMAN

RESOURCES,

EMPLOYMENT AND

URBANIZATION

IN HO CHI MINH CITY

I ,,'

I



(f,

THE NATIONAL POLITICAL PUBLISHING HOUSE

Hanoi - 1996

TABLE OF CONTENTS

. TITLE

.. \ ..

(.

PAGE

15

PREFACE FOREWORD

17

CHAPTER I:

23

1.1. Objectives of the study

23

1.2. Study design and methodology

24

1.2.1. Sample frame

24

1.2.2. Listing household 1.2.3. Selecting the sample

26

26

1.2.4. Questionnaire

27

1.2.5. Survey results & an operational

definition of migrants and non-migrants

28

CHAPTER II: DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIO­

ECONOMIC CHA.RJ\CTERISTICS OF

THE SAMPLED HOUSEHOLD POPULATION

32

2.1. Proportion female

32

2.2. Age structure

34

2.3. Place of birth

37

2.4. Previous place

37

5

2.5. Educational level

39

2.6. Present economic activity status

42

CHAPTER Ill: POPULATION & MIGRATION IN HO CHI MINH CITY

45

81

5.1.2. Labor supply:

86

50

5.1.3. Investment per wOrker:

88

52

5.2. Adaptation of in-migrants to the labor market of HCMC

90

47

3.3.3. The residential status and job of migrants CHAPTER IV:

MIGRATION HISTORIES

4.1. Last place of residence 4.2. Marital status of migrants at the time of move to HCMC 4.3. Level of education of migrants at the time of move·

,.

58

5.2.1. Job seeking status after arrival of migrants:

90

64 64

5.2.2. Amount of time spent by migrants for finding jobs after their arrival in HCMC

92

66

5.2.3. Occupation of migrants and non-migrants

94

68

5.2.4. Average number of working hours in main occupation

98

61

,.

4.4. Activity status of migrants before migration

68

4.5. Number of moves

71

4 ..6. Reasons for migration

72

4.7. Prior information on HCMC

77

4.8. Secondary migration

78

4.8.1. Number of accompanying persons

6

5.1.1. Labour force

3.2. Migration rate of HCMC

3.3.2. Residential status by place of origin

81 81

45

3.3.1. Residential status of migrants

CHAPTER V : HUMAN RESOURCES AND EMPLOYMENT

79

5.1. Human resource

3.1. Population growth in HCMC 3.3. Registration status of migrants in HCMC

4.8.2. Number of persons following respondent migrants:

5.3. Wages and income 5.4. Savings and remittances of migrants

99 111

5.4.1. Savings of migrants

111

5.4.2. Sending money/goods

112

5.4.3. Destination of remittances

114

78 7

CHAPTER VI :FERTILITY AND FAMILY PLANNING OF MIGRA,.lIJTS

I

117

6.1. Level and .trend of fertility

117

6.2. Family planning

124

6.2.l.Current family planning practices

124

6.2.2. Reasons for not practicing family planning

127

CONCLUSION

129

REFERENCES

135

( ;I

~

LIST OF TABLES

.

..

TABLE

1. 2.

3. 4.

,.

5. 6.

(.

7

8.

8

TITLE

PAGE

Expected and actual number of individual respondents by migration status

29

Distribution of individual respondents by migration "status as per the definition before and after (revised) the survey

30

Distribution of sampled population by gender and migratory status

31

Distribution of the sampled population by age and migratory status

33

Age structure of migrants at the time of move

35

Distribution of migrants by region of previous residence and period of arrival

39

Average number of years of general education of the sampled household population aged 5 years and above, by migratory status

40

Distribution of the sampled population aged 13 years and above by sex and level of tertiary education

41

9

I

9.

\

Present activity status of the sampled male population aged 13 years and above by migratory status.

43

10. The population growth during 1989-1994

47

11. Migration rate during the period 1984-1994

49

12.

Percentage of migrants having permanent ~sidential permit by the years entering to HCMC

13. Distribution of respondents by registration status and migratory status 14.

Annual average number of migrants being issued permanent residential permit

15. Distribution of respondents having permanent residential permits by the year of entering and last place of origin 16. Distribution of migrants having temporary residential permit by the year of entering and place of origin 17. Distributions of migrants having permanent residential permit by main occupation and the year of entering. 18.

Distribution of migrants having temporary residential permit by main occupation and the year of entering.

19. Distribution of respondent migrants by

last place of residence and period of their arrival in HCMC

65

Distribution of migrant respondents aged 13 years and above at the time of move by marital status at move and period of arrival

67

21. Distribution of respondent migrants by number of moves

71

22. Distribution of migrant respondents by reasons of. their migration and gender.

73

20



51

\

23. Distributio~ of migrant respondents by reasons of ~heir migration and region of last place df residence.

53

74

I

57

59

60 to

61

62

24. Distributiof of migrant respondents by main reasqns of their migration and period of ~rrival

76

25. Di'tribUtiO~ of respondents having/not having in rmation prior to the move to HCMC %)

77

26. Average .number of persons accompanying and following respondent migrants by gender and place of origin

78

27. . Labor force

82

28. / Activity status of persons of labor force {lge of HCMC.

83

; I

Labol'ers working in HCMC Distribution of professional workers by . level of tertiary education

84 85

I

10

11

31. Distribution of migrants by period of

arrival and job seeking status after arrival

week by economic sector, migration status and sex

104

91

4l.

32. Distribution of migrants by period of arrival and amount of time spent for finding the first job in HCM City since their arrival.

Average wage rate per working hour of employed respondents by gender and migratory status

105

93

33. Distribution of respondents by gender, main occupations and migratory status

42 . Distribution of workers by migratory

status and type of organization of main

occupations

95

107

43. Average amount of yearly saving per

worker by migratory status

III

34. Distribution of respondents by migratory . secto r 0 f m8J.\,n ./ status and economlC occupation I

97

I

35. Average number of working hou~per week of respondent workers in m 'n occupation, by migratory status aid economic sector

99

I

36. Average income of respondents b~ , migration status and gender

100

37. Average income of migrants by t e . industry of main occupation and dod of arrival

101

38. Average number of migrants' working hours per week by main occupation and period of arrival 39. Average income of respondents by economic sector, sex and migration status 40. Average number of hours worked per

12

\

\

\ 102



i

1\3 \

44. Proportion of respondents sending

money/goods during the last 12 months,

by gender and migratory status

45. Distribution of value of money/goods sent

by migrants during the last 12 months

by receiver of remittances

46.

Distribution of the value of money/goods sent by migrants during the last 12 months by main purposes of sending

47.

Number of women and number of

children ever-born and children born

during the last 12 months , from the

1994 migration survey

48. Age-specific fertility rates as derived • from the Population Census on April 1,

1989; the Demographic Survey on

January 1, 1993; and the Migration

Survey on September 1, 1994

ll3

ll5

. ll6

ll8

120

13

49.

50.

Distribution of ever- married non-migrant and migrant women and their reported number of children ever born and the last births by age group Percentage of married women age 15-49 years currently using any contraceptive method, modern or non-modern

123

PREFACE 125 This study was undertaken within the framework of a United Nations Population Fund ( UNFPA) project in Viet Nam, VIE/93/P02, "Support to Research on Population and Development in Viet Nam". The project, which was partly financed by the Government of France, started in 1993 and involved four Vietnamese research institutes. Each one of them carried out a small quantitative survey on a population-related topic. The analysis of the survey results are being published in four separate reports ( including this one) in English and in Vietnamese. This monograph was written by Ms. Vu Thi Hong, Mr. Le Van Thanh and Mr. Truong Si Anh under the supervision of Dr. Bach Van Bay, Director of the Institute for Economic Research ( IER) of Ho Chi Minh City. Technical assistance was provided throughout the project by Mr. Patrick Gubry, a researcher at the Centre for Population and Development (CEPED) in Paris and Mr. Jerrold W. Huguet, from ESCAP­ Bangkok. May, 1996 THE NATIONAL POLITICAL PUBLISHING HOUSE

14

15

FOREWORD Ho C?hi Minh City .(HCMC), which is located in the south of Viet Nam, plays an important role in industry, commerce, finance, science, technology and education, not only for the South but also for the whole country . HCMC is a large p:ltential market for the south and the country . As the market economy was developed before the unification of tbe country, the City: has become a focal point for commodity demand and supply, services, labor, and finance for the region. Thus, the City has assumed a very important role and positi~n in terms of the economic development of the region and country. During the transition from a centralized and planned economy to a market economy beginning after 1986, the economy of HCMC. has developed continuously. The growth rate of the gross domestic product ( GDP ) increased by 9.8% in 1991 and 14.6% in 1994 with an average of 12.9 percent for the period. GDP per capita in USD was 641 in.1991 and 810 in 1994. The growth rate of the GDP in HCMC was 4 - 5 percentage points higher than for the whole country, while the GDP per capita was about three times as high. The city

17

contributes approximately 30 percent of the countrys budget. '

average expenditure per head has more than doubled (2.2 times) between 1991 and 1994.

The continuous economy development of HCMC has resulted from economic reform which has been as follows:

Because of the trends described above, HCMC has become a center for migration flows. While the economic growth of the City is higher than for the country as a whole , the rate of the city's population increase is also higher than the national average.

(1) The State economic sector has been reorganized,

foreign investment has increased significantly, and the private economic sector has developed strongly. Within five years nearly 500,000 people have found jobs, and the unemployment problem in the City has been partially solved.

The urban population of HCMC accounts presently for over 75 percent of the City's total population. The urban area consists of a central area, a periphery and 6 towns. At present, HCMC includes 12 urban districts and 6 periphery districts.

(2) With economic development, the Government's budget and the budgetary expenditures oJ HCMC and provinces have increased. The infrastructure of the City has been improved and rearranged, and difficulties from the old infrastructure have been gradually eliminated during the development process. (3) An increase in welfare and improvements in education, medical care and literacy are also the results of economic development. Budgetary expenditures by the City on education, medical care and literacy have been increased. As a result, the illiteracy rate decreased from 7.5 percent in 1991 to 4.6 percent in 1994 (for the population aged 6 years and over). The number of students at all levels has increased, particularly at universities, colleges and training centers. A decrease in the birth rate has led to a decline in the rate of natural increase. The number of hospital beds and houses has increased. The living standard also increased. Monthly

18

I-

'.

Although HCMC has made a considerable contribution to the country, its rate of urbanization is rather low, its rate of unemployment is high, and its infrastructure system has been deteriorating seriously due to inadequate rehabilitation, leaving little' ~om for expansion and development. Meanwhile, the Government has been carrying out a reform policy in recent years in order to absorb investment capital from the domestic sector as well as foreign enterprises in the fields of manufacturing and services. This has required an adequate infrastructure system to support these economic activitie:s. This situation has been aggravated by the high population growth rate of the City. PopUlation, labor, migration, employment and urbanization are subjects which are closely related in a system of urban research. However, they have not yet been studied systematically . They are, therefore, a special

19

subject of a very urgent nature to the City. The Institute of Economic Research of HCMC was assigned by the Study directors of the VIE/93/P02 project to study the subject "Migration, human resources, employment and urbanization in HCMC·.

B. International organizations: • UNFPA in Hanoi: Assisted by providing funding and monitoring of the project, in particular Ms. Linda Demers, the UNFPA Country Director and Ms. Violette Pedneault provided encouragement and support.

The study was divided in two stages :

+ The first stage was a State-of-the-art report which discussed such factors as migration, human resources, employment and urbanization, and their interrelationships.

+ The second stage consisted of conducting the survey on migration and employment in HCMC. We have already prepared two reports on : (1) State-

of- the- art report in 1993, and

(2) Preliminary report on migration to HCMC, after conducting the sample survey in 1994. This final report analyzes the different aspects of migration into HCMC and makes some proposals on policies to manage and accommodate migration flows into the City. Contributions to the present study came from:

A. Board of directors from IER:

• CEPED in Paris: Assisted with advice on survey design, questionnaires, tabulation and report preparation, in particular Mr. Jacques Vallin and Mr. Patrick Gubry. • ESCAP in Bangkok: Mr. Jerrold Huguet acted as the international consultant for preparing the questionnaires, tabulation plan and final report. C. National organtzations:

1. Central organization: The Center for Population and Human Resource Studies of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social affairs, Hanoi. 2. Organizations of HCMC: • Institute for Economic research (IER): conducted the survey and research with the direct participation of the Urban Section and other researchers of IER. • Co-operation:

• Mr. Bach van Bay

- Statistical office of HCMC.

• Mrs. Vu thi Hong

- Police department of HCMC.

• Mr. Le van Thanh • Mr. Truong si Anh

20

21

CHAPTER I OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY

1.1. OBJECTNES OF THE STUDY: The objectives are: To understand the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of recent migrants to HCMC; (1)

(2) To determine the major reasons or motivations for migration to HCMCj (3) To understand the adjustment of migrants to the City environment; .,.

(4) To analyze the major demographic and socio-economic consequences of migration, such as family identity, marital status, education, economic activity status, employment and income; (5) To understand the role of migrants .in their home place through remittances;

23

(6) To compare different aspects of migrants and non-migrants;

\

l

~

(7) To evaluate the effectiveness of some policies to restrict migration to the City ; and (8) To propose a set of recommendations to the City authorities, policy makers and planners. 1.2. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY: Although the unit of study is individual migrants and non-migrants, it was decided that the basis for the sample would be households in HCMC because of financial, human resource and time constraints. This would,' of course, tend to exclude many individuals, especially short-term or seasonal migrants, who are not accommodated in a household.

As a sub-district in HCMC usually contains from

1.2.1. Sample, frame Ho Chi Minh City is administratively divided into twelve inner and six peripheral districts. The districts are further divided into a total of 282 sub-districts. As migrants of the same place of origin or other characteristics often cluster in certain areas of the City, it was decided that samples would be taken from every district so

as to capture as many migrants of different characteristics and origins as possible. However, one district, ( Can Gio ) was excluded from the study since the living conditions there are extremely difficult, which deter most migrants from the area. In fact, its population only migrates out and the district has had very few in-migrants for years. Thus, two sub-districts were selected at random from each of the 17 districts, making a total of 34 sub-districts selected for the further step of sampling enumeration units.

..

20 to 30 thousand inhabitants, it was not possible to take all of the 34 sub-districts as the sample frame to enumerate all the population. Hence, only one residential block, which usually contains from 400 to 600 households and with the number of inhabitants varying from 2,000 to 3,000, was selected randomly from each of the 34 sub-districts. The population of all 34 blocks formed the sample frame for the survey and this study. It was planned that 1,000 individuals would be

selected for interviewing. However, because the main focus of the study was supposed to be the migrant population in the City, the ratio of

24

25

I

.

( "

none of their members born outside HCMC or no one migrating to the City after April 1st, 1984. Thus, 800 migrant and 200 non-migrant households, as per the study design, were selected at random from the total number of 19,109 households listed by local authorities. One migrant aged 15 years or above was chosen at random from each migrant household and administered the individual migration questionnaire. One member aged 15 years or above in each non-migrant household was chosen at random to respond to the same individual questions, but without the section on migration history.

migrants to non-migrants sampled was decided to be eight to two (8:2). That is, 800 migrant and 200 non-migrant individuals would be selected and a~ministered individual questionnaires.

1.2.2. Listing of households In the first stage of the sampling procedure, local authorities in the 34 selected residential blocks were asked to go to every household in their respective areas to record a limited amount of information about each household member, including their name, age, sex, place of birth and number of years of stay in the City. The household slips were then collected and all information was computerized. A total of 19,109 households with more than 94,000 inhabitants were enumerated in this first stage of the survey.

1.2.4. Questionnaire

,.

1.2.3. Selecting the sample:

.,

In accordance with the objectives of the study and based on the records of local authorities, households with at least one member born outside HCMC who had stayed in the City for ten (10) years or less, were defined as migrant households and were extracted. Other households were defined as non-migrant households, Le., households with

In pursuit of the objectives of the study, a questionnaire was designed following an example from ESCAP, the comments of technical advisors from ESCAP and CEPED and based on the experience from a previous !ER migration survey in 1990. The questionnaire is structured into five sections. Section One, Housing and Household characteristics, contains questions for collecting basic information on housing conditions and

27

26 ,L

(

demographic and socio-economic characteristics of all members of the selected households. Section Two was designed especially for individual migrant that were randomly selected from each of the households. Most of the information on migration history is included in this section. Sections Three to Five were designed to collect information on employment, income, remittances and fertility and family planning issues.

1.2.5. Survey results and an operational definition of migrants and non-migrants When the filled questionnaires were examined, it was discovered that many records of the local authorities were not accurate and the migration status of many individuals was different from that recorded. This made the determination of some individuals that were supposed to be migrants according to the above definition incorrect. Hence, out of 800 predetermined migrants, 89 persons were actually born in HCMC and had moved only within the City and 7 persons had. migrated to the City· before 1984. According to the definitions adopted, those 96 persons (89 + 7) ~re not migrants. From the preselected 200 non-migrant 28

individuals, 151 persons were born in HCMC and 49 persons had migrated to the City before 1984. All of them are non-migrants as defined earlier. The number of respondents by actual and expected migration status is shown in the table below. Table 1: Expected and actual number of individual respondents by migration status I

Expected status

Migrant Non-migrant Total

I

Actual status Migrant

Non-migrant

Total

704

96

800

-

200

200

704

296

1000

However, because information on the date of arrival or the number of years of stay in HCMC for both individual respondents and other members of the sample households is available, it would be more useful to define migrants or non-migrants from their place of birth, that is, a migrant is one who was born outside HCMC regardless of the date of hislher arrival. The· migrants are then classified as : those arriving before April 1st, 1984; (2) those cOming between April 1st, 1984 and December 31st, 1989; and 29

"'f '-,1'

(3) those coming after December 31st ,1989 to the date of the survey, i.e., September 1994.

so forth. 89 persons who moved within the City are now incorporated in the category of non~migrant.

This classification is applied hereafter throughout this study. The new definition results in the following numbers of individuals by migration status:

It is worth noting that the definition of migrants and non-migrants by their place of birth as presente'd above treats return migrants as

TctJle 2: Distribution of individual respondents by migration status as per the deimition before and after (revised) the survey

Table 3: DistribUtion of sample~ population by gender and migratory status

non-migrants.

Migratory status NonMigrant Total migrant

Non-migrant Before 1984 migrant Between 1984-1989 migrant After 1989 migrant

151 49

Total

200

89 7 362 342 800

240

56

362

342

Non~Jiligrant

Before 1984 migrant Between 1984-1989 migrant After 1989 migrant Total

Total .

Female

1385 404

1399 454

3

-

2787 858

534 462

598 568

-

1132 1030

2891

2913

3

5807

Before survey defmition Revised definition

Un­ known

Male

1000 ~;;

Thus, although 800 preselected individuals were administered the individual questionnaire, only 711 of them are eligible for the analysis of migration history (which is including 7 migrants coming to HCMC before 1984), such as urban/rural origin, socio-economic and demographic characteristics at the time of move, employment status, income and

30

..,' . "


n census 89 • Sample survey of IER, 1994

I.

.

0.7

·

0.7

1.3

0.6

·

0.2

0.1

Source: • Sample survey of IER in 1994

. • Population census in 1989

i~

." 1:1".

The different migration percentages between the two sources of data in the peripheral districts, can be.:explained by the fact that, as said before, many records of the local authorities were not accurate concerning the migration status of many individual in preselected households of the peripheral districts. Hence, more people among

..

48

1

49

migrants living in peripheral districts were omitted than among migrants living in inner districts of the City.

some specific fields such as property trading or business registration. The percentage of legal migrants decreases from 67 percent in the period 1976-1980 to 27 percent in the period since 1991. A large proportion of migrants without permission or without registration are considered to be illegal migrants.

3.3. REGISTRATION STATUS OF MIGRANTS IN HOCHIMINH CITY The complete count of household members in 1994 revealed that about 800,000 of the total population of HCMC were living there without permanent residential permits. Among these about 322,000 are migrants since 1976 and 478,000 are non-migrants (or moved in prior. to 1976). The registration status of migrants in the City can be seen from table 12. The data from table 12 show that among migrants the proportion of those having permanent residential permits is higher than those not having permanent residential 'permits but this proportion tends to decrease in recent years.. The profound economic reforms throughout the country has stimulated the operatiop of a free market and encouraged production by the private sector. It has facilitated the Citys rehabilitation and development, but it has also invalidated the effects of migration restricting policies. The migrants no longer consider these policies important because it does not influence their living in HCMC except for

50

TciJle 12. Percentage of migrants having permanent residential permits by year of entering HCMC 1976-1980 Total

Female

1981-1985 Total

Female

1986-1990 Total

Female

Since 1991 Total

Female

Total of migrants 82,900 42,200 125,80( 64,900 178,90( 92,100 202,1O( 104,30(1 2.Percent age of migrants having

.f

penna­ nent residen­ tial permit

67.2

67.9

63.5

64.6

43..6

44.0

26.6

49.8

3.Per· centage of migrants without penna· nent residen­ tial permit

32.8

32.1

36.5

35.4

56.4

56.0

73.4

50.2

Source: Complete count of household - Statistical office of HCMC, 1994.

51

Some reasons for the decrease are:

temporary stay is three or six months and it will be extended)

1. At present, for those coming to HCMC, it is more difficult to obtain the permanent residential

permit.

Took 13: Dlstribution of respondents by registration'status and migratory status

2. Migrants who have stayed in the City for more years seem to have more advantages in obtaining the permanent residential permit.

"-'

Migratory statuS

Registration Status

3.3.1. Residential status of migrants Residents of HCMC are classified into the following categories:

2. Those who have obtained temporary residential permit: Who have not satisfied conditions of the decree but have a permanent p!ace of residence and permanent job, who are accepted to be temporary long term residents (the length of

Non- Migrant

After 1989

1984-1989

Total Male Fern. Total Male Fern. Total Male Fern.

3. The number of spontaneous migrants in the later period tends to increase. Hence, some of them do not ask permission.

1. Those who have obtained permanent residential permit: Who have satisfied the conditions of decree No OB/CT-DB dated March , 30th, 1989 in HCMC and were accepted to be legal residents.



l.Obtained a perma­ nent residential permit

81.4

81.5

S1.4

50.6

41.9

57.0

22.2

19.2

2. Obtained aternporary residential permit

16.2

15.5

16.S

47.0

56.1

40.1

62.6

70.0

58.0

3.Been

;registered

by local Government

1.7

3.0

0.6

1.7

1.3

1.9

14.9

10.0

17.9

1.3

O.S

0.7

1.0

0.3

0.8

-

24.1

4. Not been re~tered

..

by local Government 5. 6.

~pIes otal

0.7

-

­

1-00.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.(] 100.0 100.0 296 135 161 362 155 207 342 130 212

Spurce: Sample survey of IER, 1994

3\ Those who have been registered by local authorities (Sub. department of Police in each district): Newcomers who satisfy the conditions of

52 53

the decree or spontaneous migrants who do not satisfy them at all, but are temporarily living in the City for a short time. By City regulations, they have to declare themselves to local authorities. 4. Those who have not been registered by local authorities: Spontaneous migrants illegally living in HCMC. From table 13, the registration of migrants to HCMC since 1984 can be summarized as follows: 1. During 1984-1989, many people moved to

HCMC. Most of them were assigned by the Government to supply specialized managers and officers after the liberation in 1975, and a little over half of migrants are permanent city residents. However, the trend of spontaneous migrants moving to HCMC without permission of the City Personnel Department resulted in a high percentage of temporary long-term migrants , i.e. 47 percept. Because the policy reform at that time was not clear, the propo~tion of spontaneous migrants 'Yho were or were not registered and declared offici~ly ) was low, only 2.5 percent. I

2. The reform" of the economy has given opportunities for people to migrate to HCMC. As a result, among migrants coming to the City since 54

1989, only 22 percent are permanent residents, lower than those among migrants coming in the preceding period. The number of migrants with temporary permits increased to 62.6 % in recent years. They do not have enough certification for a legal migration (Le., having a residential book just after arrival in the City). Over two thirds of the migrants coming in the last 5 years could be considered as illegal migrants. However, they have a place of residence and a permanent job, and were accepted t~ be long-term temporary residents in the City. ~here is another 15 percent of migrants since 1989 who are not registered at all. 3. A majority of non-migrants have permanent residential books, and another 16 percent of non-migrants have long - term temporary stays. Non-migrants who are living in the City without permission account for the same percentage as those non-registered among migrants, that is, around 2.5 %. The data suggest t:Qat under the City regulations at the present time, pef;lple who are living in HCMC can move from one district to another district to live with their relatives (parents or siblings) without changing the previous place of residence and permanent residen~ial book. Therefore they are non-migrants without a ,permanent residential book 55

,"

at the selected place where the survey was conducted. The situation can be explained by the Decree OB/CT-VB dated March 30th 1989. According to this decree, spontaneous migrants who have a permanent place of residence and job will be permitted to stay in HCMC with a· temporary residential permit.

.

,.

r /I'

I,,~

Looking at the condition for migran:ts to have long-term temporary residence we c~n see the following : .

First : According to Decrees No. 60/CP and No. 61/CP dated July 5th, 1994 by the Central Government, people without permanent residential permits in HCMC can buy a houSe in the City. Moreover, a majority of in-migrants h$ve relatives through secondary migration to HCMC. Thus, the condition of residence will be more easily satisfied than before. Second : A number of investment programs, local businesses and jOint-venture enterprises with their foreign partners demand a large number of local workers. The private economic sector can supply a large number of jobs to laborers in the City. 56

'v,'

~\

The implementation of the new circular for illegal migrants causes migration flows to HCMC from provinces through out' the country. Officially, people who have a permanent residential book are legal residents· of HCMC. Migrants coming to HCMC since 1989 who have obtained or extended a temporary permit should be seen as illegal residents. However, they participate in the Citys economic activities and do not cause any se:curity problem in society.

',,;,

~;

Table 14: Annual averag6 number of migrants being issued permanent residential permit in HCMC.

'i':

Period of time

Number of migrants being issued permanent residential permit

1984-1989 1990-1994

18,700 22,434

#

Source; Police department of HCMC t"

The number of migrants being issued permanent residential permits by the Police Department in the period 1984-1989 was less than in the following period. This can be explained by the fact that since 1975 many families in HCMC were mobilized to new economics zone, or back to their homeland. Because of inadequate policies, more than 70 57

/ perce nt of these families return ed. They could not again regist er to obtain perma nent reside ntial permit. They occupied public land, lived in slums, collected garbage, sold cigare ttes and low-value things . However, since 1989, due to decree "No 08/CT -UB, the annua l numb er of migra nts obtai ning perm anent reside ntial permi ts has increased..

3.3.2.

Resi dent ial statu s by place of

origi n Table 15 show s that durin g the perio d 1984-1989, the percen tage of migra nts who became perma nent reside nts from the Red River Delta, South easter n region and Mekong River Delta was high. There were differences between males and females: the percentage of females among migra nts from the Mekong River Delta and Centra l Coast were highe r than that of their male counte rparts , i.e., 39.8 percen t compared to 29.2 percent, to and 11.0 perce nt compared to 6.2 percen t, respectively. Since 1989, the propo rtion of male migra nts who have become City reside nts from the Red River Delta, Region 4, Centr al Coast and Weste rn Highl ands has been increa sing.

58

Table 15. Distri bution of respo ndent s havin g

perma nent reside ntial permi ts by the year of entry and last place of origin

!

Migrant s to HCMC



Place of origin

Total

Total

Male Female

3. Southea stern region 4. Central coats

5. Region IV 6. Central Highlan ds 7. Norther n Highlan ds 8. Overseas 9. Unknow n

29.2 26.2 20.0 6.2 4.3 0.0 4.3 7.7 1.5

36.0 39.8 16.9 20.3 15.8 13.6 9.3 11.0 6.6 7.6 0.0 0.0 3.3 2.5 4.4 2.5

1.6 1.7

52.9 16.0 28.0 133.7 9.8 12.0 17.7 12.0 3.9 12.0 0.0 4.0 2.0 4.0 0.0 12.0 0.0 0.0

Total Samples

100.0 65

100.0 118

Male Female

.'

After 1989

1984·198 9

1. Mekong river delta 2. Red river delta

100.0 183

100.0 25

100.0 51

40.8 18.4 10.5 15.8 6.6

1.3 2.6 3.9 0.0

100.0 76

Source: Sample survey ofIER, 1994

However, the propo rtion of male migra nts from the South easter n region and Mekong Riv~r Delta tends to decrease. The data is surpri sing in that the percentage of female migra nts from th~ Mekong River Delta has increa sed sharpl y to 52.9 perce nt in the last 5 years. This reflects the fact that planned migra nts have been totally replaced by '.

spontaneous ones. 59

i.

Table 16. Distribution of migrants having temporary residential permits by the year of

entry and place of origin

Migrants to HCMC Place of origin

1. Mekong river delta 2. Red river delta 3. Central coast 1 4. South_tern region 5. Region IV 6. Western Highlands 7. Northern Highlands 8. Overseas 9. Unknown Total Samples

Male F~male

Total

Male Female

Total

48.2 8.4 20.5 14.5 4.8 1.2 1.2 1.2 0.0 100.0 83

41.8 14.7 17.6 13.5 5.9 2.4 1.8 2.4 0.0 100.0 170

33.0 14.3 19.8 15.4 15.4 2.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0 91

39.3 15.4 15.0 15.4 9.8 2.8 1.9 0.5 0.0 100.0 214

43.9 16.3 11.4 15.5 5.7 3.3 3.3 0.8 0.0 100.0 123

Source: Sample suroey of IER, 1994

The ,data clearly show that the number of male illegal rJiligrants coming from Region IV, the Central Coast a~d South-eastern region increased during the pasr ten· years (table 16). This reflects the fact that \ more people from the provinces of Region IV and the Central Coast, which are the poorest , in the /country are coming to the City for economic reasons. On the other hand, the percentages of illegal migrants who came from the Mekong River Delta alld South-eastern region were the highest.

60

3.3.3. Residential status and job of the migrants

After 1989

1984·1989

35.6 20.7 4.9 12.6 6.9 3.5 2.3 3.5 0.0 100.0 87

This can be explained by the shorter-distance to HCMC from these regions.

Table 17. Distributions of migrants having permanent residential permits by main occupation and the year of entry. Migrants to HCMC I Main occupation

1984·1989 Male li'emale

I. Agriculture 2. Manufacturing and

construction 3. Transport., post and communication 4. Trade and Sales 5. Hotellrestaurant 6. Services 7. Profess. & related 8. Administrative,

After 1989

Total

Male Female

Total

6.3

2.7

3.3

6.3

8.7

7.7

23.5

13.7

17.5

12.5

21.7

17.4

8.5 15.0 0.0 6.4 21.3

0.0 34.3 0.0 16.4 20.6

3.3 26.6 0.0 12.6 21.0

12.5 0.0 0.0 6.3 25.0

0.0 30.5 0.0 8.8 21.7

5.1 18.0 0.0 7.71 23.0

clerical and related

8.5

5.0

6.3

0.0

9. Family servant

0.0

2.7 . 5.5

3.3

18.8

8.6

12.8

10.5

6.8

7.4

12.3

0.0

5.7

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

47

73

120

16

23

39

10. Other Total Samples

2.6

Source: Samplll suroey ofIER, 1994

61

f

Table 18: Distribution of migrants having

temporary residential permits by main occupation and the year of entry. Migrants to HCMC Main occupation

After 1989

1984-1989 Male remale

Total

Male Female

Total j

2.8

2.0

2.3

3.2

.

1.5

39.4

32.7

33.0

45.5

31.4

37.8

snd communication

8.5

·

4.6

6.5

1.4

4. Trade and Sales

19.8

47.0

35.5

12.8

25.7

1. Agriculture 2. Manufacturing snd construction

\.

1. Most male permanent residents among migrants coming to HCMC during 1984-1989 have jobs such as professional and related, construction and transportation, while a large proportion of female migrants work in sales, manufacturing, food and beverage, personal and family services. 2. The proportion of permanent residents among migrants coming after 1989 who work in families and personal services has been increasing both for males and females.

3. Transport., post

3.8

19.7

5. Hotel/restaurant

2.8

·

1.5

3.2

1.4

2.3

6. Services

8.4

8.2

8.3

14.5

8.6

11.4

7. Profess. &. related

5.6

2.0

3.8

4.8

8.6

6.8

4.1

·

2.0

.

2.9

9. Family servant

2.8

4.l

3.0

1.6

14.1

9.8

10. Other

5.8

4.0

6.0

8.1

2.9

5.3

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

62

133

62

70

132

8. Administrative,

clerical snd related

Total

71

Samples -

-_...

1.5

­

Source: Sample 8uroey ofIER, 1994

Observing the occupations of migrants in relation with their residential registration status yields the followings:

62

63

,

I

CHAPTER N MIGRATION HISTORIES

As described in the first section of this report, 800 individuals were predefined as migrants, that is, those coming to HCMC after April 1st, 1984, and then administered the migration questionnaire. Examination of the questionnaire then detected that 7 of them actually arrived in the City before April 1st, 1984 and 89 were in fact intra-city migrants that should not be conSidered as migrants by the definition used. Thus, information on the migration history of the individuals was valid for only 704 respondents. They form the population for the analysis in this chapter. 4.1. LAST PLACE OF RESIDENCE It can be clearly seen from table 19 that there is a predominance of migrants from rural areas in migration flows to HCMC during the last 10 64

io

years. This reflects well the fact that most of the country's population still live in rural areas where employment opportunities are few and agricultural laborers are abundant. In addition, the labor surplus eventually increases when there are improvements in agricultural productivity as results of economic reforms and mechanization of agriculture. Table 19: Distribution of respondent migrants by

last place of residence and period

of their arrival in HCMC

Last place of

Arrival ooriod

I

1984-1989

resident

Male Female

After 1989 Total

Male Female

Total •

Urban

40,0

39. 1

39.5

44.6

36.8

39.8

Rural

60,0

60.9

60.5

55.4

63.2

60.2

Total

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

212

342

~amples

155

-_........

207 --~

~-

362 --

130 ~-

--

­

When males and females are examined separately 'by the period of their arrival in the City, it is found that more women are coming from rural areas in the last 5 years than in the preceding 5 years. The proportion of rural women among woman migrants increases from 60.9 percent in the period 1984-1989 to 63.2 percent in the following period (table 19). In contrast, fewer men were migrating

65

to the City from rural areas since 1989. The proportion of rural male migrants went down from 60 percent in the previous period to 55.4 percent in those years. This should imply that increasing mechanization and modernization of agriculture would primarily release female laborers from field work. More males are attached to the land because they are usually the main laborers in the households and are candidates to inherit parent's land and other properties. Many men are also likely to find jobs in industries other than agriculture, such as agricultural production services, sales of food products etc., which tend to increase, though still slowly, in rural areas.

moving to, the city. . 'This is because women in rural areas usually get married earlier than men do. As will be seen later, many of the women were married b&fore· their move and are coming to the City to piA .their spouse or children. HoweVer, it can be said that the singles tend to domi~at& in migration flows more in recent years, 'as planned migration has been totally replaced by, spontaneous. This is shown in Table

20. 'Table 20: Distribution of migrant respondents

.' aged 13 years and. above at the time of move by

marital .adUfil at. move and period of arrival

Marital

4.2. MARITAL STATUS OF MIGRANTS AT THE

66

Arrival period

status

1984-1989

After 1989

Male Female ' Total

Male Female

Single

60,2

42.2

51.1

68.0

53.S

56.3

Married

36,8

49.0

42.9

30,5

39.5

39,5

0.8 .

5.7

3.3

0.0

3.3

1.7

2.3

3.1

2.7

1.63

.3

2.5

Total

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

Samples

8133

192

325

128

210

338

TIME OF MOVE 1'0 HCMC 56 percent of the migrants arriving in HCMC during the last five years were still single at the time of .their move (table 20). Though people nowadays tend to marry later than five or ten years ago, this proportion is higher than that of the non-migrant population, Le., 56 compared to 52 percent. In. particular, a distinctly higher percentage of males than females were single when

.,

Widowed

Total

Divorced! separated

_L­

67

,

4.3. LEVEL OF EDUCATION OF MIGRANTS AT THE TIME OF MOVE According to the survey, the migrants had on average 8.3 years of general education before moving to HCMC, which is distinctly higher than that of the average rural resident in particular and the average citizen of the country in general. This clearly suggests that migrants are among the best educated inhabitants in both rural and urban areas. And, as is true everywhere in the country, men have more years of schooling than women. However, as is also true for the whole population, urban or rural y most of the migrants have no education other than the general level (Le., from grade 1 to grade 12). It is also observed that the proportion of those with no tertiary education/training among migrant population tends to be on the increase in recent years.

pf education of the population, and the complexity of the subject. Therefore, the economic activity status of a respondent is largely dependent on his/her subjective perception of the matter, especially for unemployment or underemployment, even though the question about activity status was broken down into 14 different status. 0'

As stated by migrant respondents, 64 percent had been employed before they moved to HCMC during the last 10 years. A large proportion of them had been self-employed in agriculture or worked for their own family. About one third of the workers were employed in state organizations, institutions or ragencies.

4.4. ACTIVITY STATUS OF MIGRANTS BEFORE MIGRATION

Quite a few bf the migrants had been employed by private firms, permanently or temporarily, before they moved away from their home. The private sector in rural areas is in fact still rather weak and so far employs a limited number of laborers. Workers in the private sector are, however, paid more than those in other sectors. Hence, fewer of them would feel the need to migrate.

It is worth noting that no precise concept or definition of employment/unemployment was given in the survey because of the relatively low level

It could be ~aid that it is not common for anyone, especiaUy a peasant, to declare himself unemployed, whatever economic status he is in. The "phenomenon" of unemployment began to be

68

69

r--- .

noted (or recognized) and discussed only recently, during the period of economic reforms. H\!nce, fewer people would have stated unemployed than is really the case. Thus about seven percent of the economically active migrant respondents declared they had been unemployed before migrating to the City. The same percentage were casual or daily workers. ..

A significant proportion of migrantlS, especially those arriving before 1989, were young, dependent children accompanying their parents or other adult siblings. They were still attending aehool before their move. The increase in migrants from rural areas is reflected in changes in the economic activity status of migrants over the last 10 years. More persons engaged in farming activities (~elf.employed or unpaid family workers), especially females, were migrating in the period after 1989 than in the previous five years. On the other hand, the replacement by spontaneous migr~ts of planned migrants also resulted in a significant reduction of the number of both state employees and economically inactive persons among the migrants. However, the proportion of those who had been attending school just before their move tends to increase in recent years. 70

4.5. NUMBER OF MOVES

,.



The sample survey recorded the first and the last moves of migrants and the total number of moves. The data show that the average number of moves was 1.48 for males and 1.39 for females. Ninety-two percent of migrants had made 1 or 2 moves. Among males, 73.4 percent moved once and 25.6 percent moved twice. Among females, 65.2 percent moved once and 19 percent moved twice. Migrants who had moved three times accoun~d for 6.3 and 3.5 percent of males and females, respectively. Instances of more than three moves are very rare. Table 21: Distribution of respondent migranU! by

numbe!r of moves Male

Tbtal

Number of moves 1 2 3 4 I 5 6 Total Average number, of \ moves I

fii9,94

21,76 14,56 302 , 0,13 0,50 100,00

"

.

0,60 100,00

65,18 18,95 3,49 3,49 0,22 0,44 100,00

1,48

1,39

73,42 25,60 6,25 2,38

!

1,43 I

Female

I

I

Source : Sample

~uruey of [ER,

1994

71

\

Table 22. Distribution of migrant respondents by reasons of their migration and sex

4.6. REASONS FOR MIGRATION The figures in Table 22 show that the majority of female migrants to HCMC moved for non-economic reasons, while a large share of their male counterparts migrated because of economic motivations. Nearly 45 pergent of women migrated to the City along with or to join their spouse or children who had migrated there some time before, or to join their husband after marriage. It is worth noting that after getting married with City partners, non-resident women are eligible for obtaining a permanent residential permit and becoming legitimate city residents. Therefore, getting married, either be~re or after migration, is a good way for many wo(men to leg~lly get into the City. From the side of economic factors, 43.5

.,.J~.

J ",,'.

,

f

Male

Female

Total

Non-economic factors Familial Marital Educational Ethnic, religious Economic Factors Living conditions Employment and income Others Total Samples

44.2 24.6 3.5 15.8 0.4 53.4 10.2 43.5 2.1 100.0 285

64.4 44.6 9.3 10.5 0.0 31.8 7.2 23.74.8 100.0 419

56.3 36.5 7.0 12.6 0.1 40.0 8.4 31.7 3.7 100.0 704

le

\"

"

percent of men migrated to HCMC for employment and/or income reason~. However, thi~ figure may not reflect the reality

Reason of migration

as many seasonal or

unsuccessful migrants would have left the 'City i

soon after their arrivfl or were not captured in a household survey like" this.

72

It can be seen from Table 23 that the highest proportions O~I persons moving because of economic reasons come from the central provinces of Region IV, Central Coast and Western Highlands, the poorest regions in the country, whereas the highest proportions of those migrating for family reasons are observed among the short-distance migrants, t~at is, those from the Southeast Region and Mekong Delta. It can also be observed that the proportion of those moving for family reasons is / especially high among migrants from the provinces of the Red River Delta. Many of them were probably

73 j

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