Local citizens’ views on reforms aiming to expand pension scheme participation

Purpose Governments support pension participation to reduce old-age income insecurity and elder poverty. However, many emerging economies (like Viet Nam) fail to achieve pension reform benefits due to insufficient participation. To explore reasons for this low coverage, this study aims to examine the views of an important stakeholder: current and potential participants of Vietnamese defined-benefit pension plans. Design/methodology/approach The authors examine the attitudes of Vietnamese workers and retired people, to ascertain their willingness to participate in different pension schemes. Purposive interviews and a literature review informed the design of an online survey, followed by further interviews with people identifying as ethnic minorities. Findings Perceptions on affordability, awareness of pension schemes and trust in pension management are important factors determining participants’ willingness to participate in a pension plan. Although informal-sector workers are the target of reforms to the Vietnamese social insurance pension system, their pension participation is hampered by concerns about affordability and low levels of trust in pension management. Moreover, low general trust in government reduces citizen’s confidence in making decisions from governments’ accounting information. Practical implications Policymakers and pension policy consultants should focus on improving trust if local people’s participation in a pension system in emerging economies such as Viet Nam is to increase. Originality/value The authors provide empirical evidence of local people’s perspectives, including their levels of trust, on a public pension system reform in an emerging economy, based on the benchmarks of accountability, enforcement, choice and transparency. This research provides evidence that pension reforms to expand coverage will falter when they inadequately incorporate citizen concerns – especially informal workers who have low trust and find a contributory pension scheme to be unaffordable.