The Transition in Living Arrangements of the Elderly in Vietnam from 1989 to 2019

Huifen Fang, Centre D'Estudis Demogràfics (CED) at Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB)
Albert Esteve, Center for Demographic Studies (Barcelona)
Juan Galeano, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Centre D'Estudis demogràfics (CED)

Since the introduction of Doi Moi in 1986, Vietnam has undergone significant demographic and socio-economic transformations, resulting in notable shifts in family composition and individual living arrangements. Using data from the 1989 and 2019 censuses, this study examines changes and determinants in the living arrangements of elderly people in Vietnam. Preliminary descriptive analysis reveals a remarkable increase in the proportion of elderly individuals living only with their partners over the past three decades. We employ logistic regression models to assess the factors driving this trend and how they have changed over time. The results of the models show that individual age, gender, education, ethnicity, region of origin, and urbanization exert a consistent influence on the living arrangements of the elderly over the observed trend, while the impact of employment status varies over time. Our findings are consistent with convergence theory, which suggests that simpler household structures replace more complex ones as societies modernize. This calls for an updated design of social policies in areas such as housing and care for the elderly.

Keywords: Comparative methods , Families, Unions and Households, Population Ageing, Census data

See extended abstract.