>> Over 3 million Vietnamese families live below poverty line

Localities across Vietnam have been conducting a survey to gather statistics on households living below or near the Government\'s poverty line.

In 2010, over three million Vietnamese families were living under the poverty line

Under the instruction by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (Molisa), localities will conduct a census on households living near or below the poverty line, which will last until this year end.

It will serve as a foundation for the Government\'s social security policies in 2012.

According to the Government’s new standards on poverty for the period of 2011-2015, poor households in rural areas are those in which each member has an average income of VND400,000 (USD19.1) and lower per month. Poor households in urban areas are those in which each member has an average income of VND500,000 (USD23.9) per month or less.

Rural households with a monthly income of VND401,000-VND520,000 (USD19.1-24.8) per person are considered to be on the verge the the poverty line. The threshold for urban households is VND501,000-VND650,000 (USD23.0-31.1) per person per month.

Cities and provinces will be required to submit the official results before November 30.

The Molisa survey showed that around 3.05 million Vietnamese families lived under the poverty line in 2010. This represents 9.45% of the country’s total households. Over 1.6 million households are on the verge of poverty.

Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Hanoi had a poverty rate below 5%.