Vietnam offers cash and housing to boost birth rate amid aging workforce

Vietnam has launched a sweeping new population law effective July 1, 2026, trading its former two-child policy for aggressive pro-natalist incentives. Couples now receive seven months of maternity leave for a second child, subsidized prenatal and newborn screenings, cash bonuses of up to 6 million dong (approximately $228), and priority housing allocation if they have two children before age 35. The Health Ministry targets raising the fertility rate from its current 1.93 births per woman to the replacement rate of 2.1 by 2030.

The policy responds to a record low fertility rate in 2024 (1.91) and a rapidly aging population. Nearly one in seven Vietnamese citizens is already over 60, and projections indicate that figure could hit one in four by mid-century. With an export-driven economy reliant on a young workforce, Hanoi is scrambling to reverse demographic decline to sustain its manufacturing and economic boom. The challenge is steep: cultural shifts, urbanization, and rising costs of living have made larger families less attractive, and achieving the 2.1 target within four years appears ambitious.