Duc Dung Le

Rapid population ageing has led many countries to extend statutory retirement ages, yet the mental health implications of post-retirement employment remain inconclusive, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. This study examines the association between working beyond statutory retirement age and depressive symptoms among older persons in Vietnam, a rapidly ageing middle-income country undergoing retirement-age reform. Using nationally representative data from the 2019 Vietnam National Aging Survey (N = 3,312) and propensity score matching to improve balance in observed characteristics, we compare economically active older persons with observationally similar non-working counterparts. Results show that post-retirement employment was significantly associated with lower depressive symptom scores. Associations were stronger among men and rural residents, while estimates were similar across educational groups. These findings suggest that continued labor force participation is linked to better mental health in later life, although estimates should be interpreted as associations rather than causal effects.

This study investigated the causal link between elder abuse and depressive symptoms among Vietnamese older adults, using the recent longitudinal surveys in 2019 and 2022. Propensity score matching (PSM) was employed, controlling for baseline outcomes and characteristics, to address the potential endogeneity between elder abuse and depressive symptoms. Our PSM estimation showed that experiencing elder abuse significantly increased depressive symptom index by 0.331 points. This result remained robust across multiple sensitivity checks. Heterogeneity analysis further showed that the impact of elder abuse was more pronounced among older women and individuals with lower education, highlighting the intersection of gender-based violence and socioeconomic disparities in the experience of elder abuse. Our findings underscore the harmful effect of elder abuse and the importance of targeted interventions to prevent elder abuse and mitigate its detrimental impact on depression.

To date, studies on the effects of grandparenting on grandparents' health and well‐being do not reach the same conclusion and most of them have been conducted in developed countries. We add to this literature by examining the causal relationship between grandparenting and grandparents' health and well‐being in Vietnam, where the social norm and reciprocal relationships between adult children and their older parents are strong. We used instrumental variable estimations to address the endogeneity issue of the decision to provide care. Using the national survey on older persons in Vietnam, we found that grandparenting care had positive effects on psychological well‐being, life satisfaction, and self‐rated health of grandparents. We also found that the effects were heterogenous by caregiver's gender, in which grandmothers were more beneficial from caregiving tasks than grandfathers. Further exploring the mechanisms underlying the effects revealed that improvements in memory and stronger social networks were potential channels through which grandparenting might improve the health and well‐being of grandparents. Our findings support the theory of role enhancement, suggesting that grandparents can have health and well‐being benefits from grandparenting. Policies aiming at strengthening old age protection and family relationships should be advocated to sustain the subjective well‐being of older adults.

Background: Population aging is escalating globally, intensifying the demand for long-term care (LTC), primarily met by informal caregivers, notably spouses. Evidence from developed countries suggests potential adverse effects on caregivers’ well-being. Yet, research on this topic is scarce in developing nations. We investigate the effect of informal caregiving on older spousal caregivers’ health and well-being in Vietnam, a rapidly aging country with an early stage of LTC system development. Methods: Utilizing the national survey on aging in Vietnam with propensity score matching estimations to mitigate potential endogenous problems of the decision to provide care between caregivers and non-caregivers. Results: Findings showed caregiving increased poor psychological well-being, life dissatisfaction, and functional limitations by 7.3%, 9.7%, and 8.6%, respectively. The caregiving effects are heterogenous by demographic characteristics. Conclusions: We are the first to examine spousal caregiving in Vietnam, highlighting the urgency of addressing its negative impacts and suggesting several potential policy interventions.

Although socioeconomic inequality has been identified as a significant factor for violence against women, the connection between these two variables has not been widely recognized and addressed in many countries. This study aims to quantify the degree of socioeconomic inequalities in intimate partner violence (IPV) in Vietnam and investigate the contribution of each determinant factor that contributes to the observed inequality. We utilized the Vietnamese National Survey on Domestic Violence against Women ( N = 4,019) for the analysis. Household wealth was used as a proxy for socioeconomic status. We used a concentration index to quantify the degree of socioeconomic inequality in emotional, physical, or sexual violence and a combination of these three types of violence. We further decomposed the concentration index to identify the contribution of each determinant to the observed inequality in IPV. We found that the prevalence of IPV was significantly concentrated among the worse-off across all types of IPV and that disparities in husband’s occupation (48%), women’s education (39%), husband’s education (38%), and class (34%) were the primary factors contributing to increased inequalities in IPV. Our results indicated that higher education and engagement in skilled jobs were highly concentrated among the better-off, creating unequal distribution of these variables across wealth. Policy could mitigate the inequality in IPV by expanding women’s access to education and economic opportunities. However, interventions should target both men and women and within couples because husband’s characteristics also play an important role in explaining socioeconomic inequalities in IPV.