Professionalising non-medical caregiving in Vietnam: Driving the Silver Economy and advancing gender equality
Summary
Vietnam’s rapidly ageing population raises an urgent need for a professional aged care workforce. This policy brief highlights how investing in a skilled aged care workforce can help Vietnam meet complex demand for quality aged care, while helping women alleviate unpaid care responsibilities that they disproportionately shoulder.
The policy brief advocates for the formal recognition of the Non-Medical Caregiver occupation in aged care through the development of a national occupational skills standards and a core competency framework. It also presents private sector evidence from the GRACE project, which demonstrates that a competency-based training is an effective and practical approach to developing a qualified aged care workforce capable of meeting Vietnam’s growing care needs.
This policy brief is developed by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ho Chi Minh City Regional Branch with support from Investing in Women.
Highlights
- Vietnam’s population is ageing rapidly while traditional family-based care is declining. As demand for long-term care grows beyond the capacity of hospitals and families, the burden falls largely on women, who provide most unpaid care.
- Developing a professional aged care workforce can help Vietnam meet the growing demand for care, create sustainable jobs, and support women in rebalancing care responsibilities and economic participation.
- Vietnam has established a strong policy foundation for the care economy and aged care. However, the non-medical caregiver occupation remains unrecognised, with no occupational classification, national occupational skills standards, or nationally recognised training and certification system.
- In addition to international experience, the GRACE pilot offers a practical and scalable pathway for developing a professional aged care workforce through competency-based training and stronger collaboration among government, training institutions, care providers and employers to improve training-to-employment linkages.
