social issues 1

Population:
Viet Nam’s present .....1.... is around 80 million, about 87% of which is the majority ‘Kinh‘ group mostly living in low-lying areas, and the
remaining 13% in fifty-three different ...2.... groups living mainly in ...3..... areas.

A population boom after the end of the war allowed Viet Nam’s population to climb ....4... . Increasing population ....5..... , pressure on ageing infrastructure and worsening environmental damage prompted a ....6.... of applying disincentives to families with more than two children. Population growth is slowing, but the previous ......7 ........ has left a very young population (65% are under 25) with .....8..... serious strains on the education system and the labour market.

Poverty:
Nearly three-....9... of Vietnam’s population were living in poverty in the mid-1980s. In the early nineties, the government ....10..... itself to a systematic strategy to improve the situation: it has been remarkably successful. The 2003 United Nations 'Human Development Report' ....11....that poverty is now under 29% and .....12.... rapidly, one of the sharpest declines in any other country on record.

......13...... , poverty is still common in rural areas, and increasing urban affluence has ....14..... migration from poor rural ....15..... into the cities adding to the social problems there. Wages for low-skill jobs are minimal and unemployment is high and increasing as the country progressively adapts to the world market economy.