Transitional Economy, Technological Change and Women’s Employment: The Case of Vietnam

Abstract

Through the package for economic revitalization, doi-moi, Vietnam has achieved considerable progress and growth in the economic sphere. But liberalization came with a withdrawal of state support in vital social sectors. Under socialism, the state had observed a set of minimum labor standards and provided facilities such as childcare, which were crucial in enabling women to participate in the public sphere. With the state receding into the background, labor has been made much more vulnerable to exploitation by forces from within and without. But the worst hit are women, who have steadily been losing all support from the state, which has affected their ability to compete equally with men in the market.

This paper looks at the changing labor and gender relations in the process of economic change and examines whether, and to what extent, there are new opportunities for women emerging from the processes of technological change and economic liberalization.