Oxfam Discussion Paper

The Social Impacts of the Global

Economic Crisis on Day Labourers in
Mobile Labour Markets in Ha Noi
A rapid assessment report

Dinh Thi Thu Phuong (Ageless Consulting)

Research consultants for the Viet Nam Academy of Social

Sciences, with support from Oxfam GB and the World Bank1

July 2010

For this study of the social impacts of the global economic crisis,
evidence of recent employment trends and social conditions was
gathered through interviews and focus group discussions with casual
labourers at five labour markets in Ha Noi. Six key findings have been
extrapolated: wages per day worked rose in late 2008; however,
demand for casual labour has dropped heavily, so that earnings have
generally fallen; cost of living for casual workers has risen sharply; the
two preceding findings have caused socioeconomic problems for casual
workers and their families including unpayable debt and children
having to leave education; the social capital of casual labourers is
generally high; few casual labourers have much expectation of finding
alternative sources of income.

Oxfam Discussion Papers

Oxfam Discussion Papers are written to contribute to public debate and to invite
feedback on development and humanitarian policy issues. They are ’work in
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reflect Oxfam policy positions. The views and recommendations expressed are
those of the author and not necessarily those of Oxfam.
For more information, or to comment on this paper, email research@oxfam.org.uk.
1. Characteristics of day labourers
For the purposes of this research, the authors conducted quick surveys in five mobile
labour markets (cho lao dong) in inner Ha Noi in April 2009.
• Buoi market: the majority of the people looking for work here come from Yen Thanh
district, Nghe An province; the rest come from Thanh Hoa and Dong Anh, a suburban
district of Ha Noi.
• Giang Vo market: most of the day laborers in Giang Vo market come from Nam Dinh,
Thai Binh and Thanh Hoa provinces.
• My Dinh overpass market: the job seekers in this place are mainly resident in Phuc
Tho district, Ha Noi. Most of them ride their bicycles nearly 60 kilometres every day to
get to My Dinh market and wait for work.
• Pham Ngoc Thach market: The majority of the people seeking work in this market are
from Nong Cong district, Thanh Hoa province.
• Long Bien market: Being the biggest fruit and vegetable wholesale market in Ha Noi,
Long Bien market is the venue of many manual workers from a wide range of
provinces such as Thai Binh, Nam Dinh, Thanh Hoa and Nghe An, but the majority
are from neighbouring provinces to Ha Noi like Vinh Phuc and Hung Yen.

The people standing and looking for casual employment in these labour
markets usually collect together according to their home town. In general,
each labour market has workers from between one and three different
localities.
“People who previously experienced the work tell and instruct others. In these markets,
many people are fellow-countrymen, even fathers and sons, brothers, relatives. There
are people from other provinces. For example, Buoi market has workers from Nghe An,
Thanh Hoa, even Dong Anh district as well. In Giang Vo market, there are workers from
Nam Dinh, Thai Binh, Thanh Hoa. There are many of them.”
(Focus Group Discussions (hereafter FGDs) with male and female workers in Buoi and
Giang Vo markets)
The age of the labourers in these labour markets varies widely, with the youngest at
16-17 years old and the eldest around 55 years old.
“In our village, 80% to 90% of the families have members going far away for jobs; they go
everywhere. From the young to the middle-aged. Just the old and the children stay. If
they were hired, they would leave as well. The majority of them work as mason’s
assistants; the others become workers in factories or come here, stand and wait for a
job.”
(FGD of Nghe An male laborers in Buoi market)
According to our observations and interviews, it is estimated that over 70% of labourers
in the markets studied belong to the middle-aged group who are married and are the
main bread-winners of their families. They have been working as day labourers in labour
markets for quite a long time (from 2 to more than 10 years). And the reasons for their
choice are normally lack of paddy fields, a long period of joblessness (after harvest time),
no other income generation activities and that they are not qualified enough to become
workers in the industrial zones any more.People from the neighbouring provinces to Ha
Noi such as Nam Dinh, Thai Binh, Ha Tay, Vinh Phucand Hung Yen commonly go to the
city to work for 15 to 25 days per month on average. In the busy months of ploughing,
transplanting and harvesting, their working days in the city reduce to 10–15 days per
month depending on the workload of their families. People from distant provinces such as
Thanh Hoa and Nghe An frequently cut down their journeys home to save money. They

2 Social impacts of the economic crisis on day labourers in mobile labour markets
in Ha Noi, Oxfam Discussion Paper, July 2010
travel home once every 2–3 months, primarily in ploughing, transplanting and harvesting
seasons to help their family do farm work. However, generally speaking, “people start
coming to Ha Noi after the full moon day of Lunar January to seek for jobs, but normally
they stay at home until the rice transplantation period is over. Then they work in Ha Noi
from February to April. After that, they return and stay at home until the end of the full
moon day of Lunar July, or some people come home again from August to October to do
harvesting and transplanting. They leave for Ha Noi in November and wait until the
twenty-seventh or twenty-eighth day of Lunar January to return to their home town.”
(FGDs of male and female workers in Buoi and Giang Vo markets)
These middle-aged people rarely go to the South like younger workers because the cost
of travelling is relatively high and they still have to come home and help their families with
farm work or sudden family events.
“The cost of traveling between the South and their home towns is quite high so they only
come home once every 7-8 months. We work near home; it only takes us several hours
to travel home when a sudden family emergency occurs. But if we were in the South and
heard the news, it would take some days to travel home by bus. Our staying far away
could make our wives and children feel sad. In general, this job is quite flexible. We can
return home whenever we want. In busy periods of farm work, we can stay at home and
help our families. When we have free time, we can go to the city, look for a job and earn
some money.”
(FGDs of male and female workers in Buoi and Giang Vo markets)
On the other hand, according to 20-30% of the young and single people in labour
markets, this work is a temporary step to earn enough money for vocational training or to
pay the cost of travelling to the South to find a more stable and higher-income job such
as mason’s assistant or coffee harvester. Almost all members of this group, while looking
for a chance to travel to the South, come here and wait for a job before or after the
annual Tet festival and on the way save money from reduced travel as “gas prices in the
last months before Tet are twice or one and a half times as much as usual.” Some of
them by this opportunity “leave for Ha Noi right after the full moon day of January and
stay until the middle or end of Lunar February. If they get the full amount of money to
afford the travelling cost, they will stay at home until mid-March and then go to the South
till Lunar December.”
(FGDs of male and female workers in Buoi and Giang Vo markets)
The jobs with highest demand for labour are normally those related to construction
such as mason’s assistants, digging house foundations and staking for house making;
next in demand is carrying/portering for companies and shops, and after that are other
jobs for families such as transportation, furniture carrying, house and garden cleaning,
etc.
As an overall estimate, female labourers account for about 30–40% of the total.
However, the proportion varies between markets. For instance, in Pham Ngoc Thach
market, 100% of the labourers are men; but up to 70% of the people standing in My Dinh
overpass are women. The majority of women doing this kind of work come from poor
families, or they go to the city with their husbands to take care of their family members.
Another cause is that the working venue is near enough to their home villages so that
they can work in daytime and return home in the evening. According to traditional
perceptions, the work is divided by gender. Male labourers often do “heavy” work such as
carrying/portering, masonry, digging, levelling ground and digging house foundations,
while the women normally do “light” work such as cleaning and helping with housework.
Being interviewed, some women said that: “It’s easier for male labourers to get a job in
comparison with women. Allowances for both of us for the same type of work are the
same but the selection is different. With heavy work, the strong and healthy male
labourers are often picked. Most of the employers don’t choose the women for this kind of
work unless there are no male labourers available at that time.” (Hoang Thi L., 39, Nghe
An, a worker in Buoi market)

Social impacts of the economic crisis on day labourers in mobile labour markets 3
in Ha Noi, Oxfam Discussion Paper, July 2010
 2. Changes in the supply of and demand for
labour over the last 12 months

2.1 Reduced labour demand

In the context of the economic crisis, the demand of employment in various fields is
greatly reduced. Job opportunities for day labourers in Ha Noi are not exempt from that
trend. Normally, tens to hundreds of people stand in labour markets waiting for a job but
“on average, only 5–6 employers come to the labour market a day. And each of them
asks for just 1–2 people. Therefore, there are only 10–15 days a month that we have
work. Lucky people might get paid work for 20 days. This is a kind of luck. Jobs choose
people, not the people choose jobs.”
(FGDs of male and female workers in Buoi and Giang Vo labour markets)
Labour demand in 2008 dropped compared to 2007 and previous years. In early 2009,
this situation is continuing and even intensifying. Interviewees said that on average, of 10
days standing in the market, there were 7 days that they could get a job in 2007, but only
3–5 days in 2008. As estimated by the labourers, the workload of February 2009 is 30%
less than the same period of 2008. “Last year, we had more jobs. After last Tet, we could
get a job at once. But it’s different this year. Assuming that previously (February 2008) we
had 10 jobs, now we only have 7. The quantity of employers suddenly falls.” (FGDs of
male workers in Buoi and Giang Vo labor markets)

Construction-related jobs have been reduced most

Annually, September to December of the lunar year is the period that labourers gather
most to seek work. This is the time that they can find a lot of jobs and have their highest
income in a year. Of this period, September and October are the months for construction,
November is normally the month for completion of construction and many cleaning jobs
(for Tet) arise in December. However, since September 2008, job opportunities have
disappeared, especially in construction work. It was estimated by the labourers
interviewed at various labour markets that construction-related work has decreased by
about 70% against the same time a year ago. “There is almost no new construction by
private companies; only several big construction projects by some companies and
agencies are still ongoing.” (Nguyen Thi T., 34, Phuc Tho district, Ha Noi, worker in My
Dinh overpass market). The next biggest fall has been in jobs like digging,
carrying/portering, transportation and house moving. Last is the “light” work such as
cleaning and tidying, which has only marginally declined.
“We come here mostly to do the construction work but it is much reduced this year. Some
jobs can be found in Lunar December because many people want to clean, tidy or move
house. Very few jobs were available during the previous months. We had jobs for around
10 days only.”
(FGD of male labourers in Buoi labour market)

4 Social impacts of the economic crisis on day labourers in mobile labour markets
in Ha Noi, Oxfam Discussion Paper, July 2010
Box 1 – Causes of the reduction in demand for casual labourers
This is not only due to the economic crisis. The tendency towards progressively reduced
demand for casual labourers is also caused by:
1. Rising material prices since the 2008 economic crisis, causing postponement of many
planned construction projects and stopping a lot of new ones. As a consequence, job
opportunities created by this sector fell sharply. In addition, the fact that many contractors
have invested in fully mechanised equipment to reduce the number of employees as well as
to improve delivery speeds has contributed to the fall in employment opportunities for
unskilled manual labourers in this sector.
2. Slow rates of consumption of products, forcing many companies to minimise their
production. Therefore, employment carrying and portering has also declined.
3. Ever increasing living expenses, negatively affecting the need for and leisure activity of
buying new consumer goods like plants and furniture. Transportation work, accordingly, is
not in as high demand as before.
4. More household equipment and the development of service companies, also
contributing to the decline in jobs for casual manual labourers. Many families can buy
modern devices to do their housework instead of employing anybody, or they can hire
services from the prestigious service companies. As one example, many families now have
machines to drain off and clean their toilets instead of hiring people to do it manually.

2.2 Reduced labor supply after Tet this year compared

with last year
Because the research was conducted right after traditional Tet, the number of free
labourers in these markets was quite small, partly because not much labour demand
exists right after Tet yet, partly because labourers want to stay at home to do rice
transplantation for new winter-spring crop, or just because they want to relax after the
traditional New Year festival to wait for the period with more work opportunities to come
to Ha Noi.
However, at the time of this survey, it was said that after Tet this year, the number of
labourers coming to the city labour markets was less than at the same time the previous
year. "At present, there are about 60 people in the market, while there would be up to 80–
100 people at the same time last year. Many people don’t want to go to the city because
it is much more difficult to find a job than last year, but they have no other choice. Their
children only put hope in the parents in city to have money to send home. Moreover, Ha
Noi is complicated. I am so tired of it. Standing in the middle of the streets, no shelter
when it’s sunny or rainy. We asked people as a favor to let us to stand in their doorways
to avoid the heavy rain but they would not. Even though we stand all day in the street, we
don’t dare take a short break but just keep waiting for a job. Just like fishing. Jobs are
getting fewer and fewer.”
(FGDs of male and female laborers in Buoi and Giang Vo markets)

Social impacts of the economic crisis on day labourers in mobile labour markets 5
in Ha Noi, Oxfam Discussion Paper, July 2010
 Table 1: Comparison of the number of free labourers among different labour
markets2

Market January 2008 February 2008 January 2009 February 2009

(before Tet) (after Tet) (pre-Tet) (after Tet)

Buoi market 120–130 70–80 130–150 55–60

Giang Vo market 90–95 40 100 30

My Dinh overpass market 50 20–30 50–60 20–30

Pham Ngoc Thach market 55–60 20 60–70 15

Particularly in 2008, despite the reduced employment, the quantity of labourers standing
in these markets in the last months of the year was tending to increase. Faced with few
job opportunities and a huge number of job seekers, the casual labourers had to be
patient to hope to get work.
“Getting up at 6, we wash our faces, brush our teeth, have breakfast and come to the
market at 7 and start waiting. We keep waiting like that. At noon, we have lunch in a small
restaurant. After lunch, we continue waiting without a break. Only the people who had
work in the morning can have a short nap until 1.00-2.00 pm and then continue waiting.
We keep doing that until 9.00-10.00pm.”
(FGD of male laborers in Buoi market)
“Doing this work is like going fishing. We just depend on luck. Sometimes, we sit and wait
the whole morning for nothing; but hardly had we gone out for a drink or to the toilet when
a person called.”
(Do Van D., 44, Thanh Hoa, worker in Pham Ngoc Thach market)

Box 2 – Some main causes of the increase in the number of day labourers
in labour markets in 2008
When being asked “in late 2008, when fewer jobs were available, did the number of
labourers standing at the labour markets increase or decrease compared with the same time
the year before?” most of the respondents said it had increased, not decreased. They
estimated that since April 2008 and especially in the last 3 months of 2008, the number of
day labourers in these labour markets has gone up slightly, by 5-10 per cent compared to the
previous year. According to the interviewed labourers, this is thought to be caused by:—
1. Farmers losing revenue due to unstable agricultural product prices. Together with the
loss of most of the summer-autumn crops to the severe flood in Ha Noi, this meant people
from not only distant provinces but also suburbs of Ha Noi such as Ha Tay and Dong Anh
flocked into the city to find jobs.
2. Limited capacity no other income generation activities causing many farmers whose
land was taken for the construction of industrial zones or entertainment centres to have to
join the teams of day labourers in Ha Noi.
3. Traditional inshore fishing in Nghe An and Thanh Hoa bringing poor incomes results
but poor fishermen being unable to afford modern equipment to go offshore and raise their
productivity.
4. Rising petrol prices leading to falling income from driving motorbike taxis. Many drivers
therefore had to do more jobs like transporting and carrying furniture to increase their income
when they are available.
5. Many female scrap dealers being willing to work as cleaners to get more cash.

6 Social impacts of the economic crisis on day labourers in mobile labour markets
in Ha Noi, Oxfam Discussion Paper, July 2010
6. A few workers in industrial zones losing their jobs because most factories and
businesses minimised their volumes of production since there were no or only small orders.
After returning to their home towns, they quickly came to the city and became members of
the group standing in labour markets.
7. Some people who went abroad for labour export coming back earlier than expected
because their contracts were terminated.
8. A number of workers temporarily present in lunar December. They were people
working in the South and returning home sooner to save travel costs by avoiding the season
of expensive travel. But they took advantage of this to earn some more money for Tet in Ha
Noi.
9. Especially in late 2008 and early 2009, several cases of male students standing in
some labour markets such as My Dinh overpass, which is close to Ha Noi National
University, the University of Teaching and the Institute of Journalism and Communication.
These students frequently stood for half a day (if they had to study in the morning, they
would join the labour markets in the afternoon, and vice versa) and the frequency was not
stable, depending on their studies.

2.3 The social capital of day labourers is relatively

high
In almost all the markets studied, it appeared that the spirit of solidarity of labourers
within the same market is very high. It appears not only among brothers or close relatives
but also people from different regions of the country. With the viewpoint “we are all in the
same boat so we should understand and help each other”, fighting over job opportunities
is reported to rarely occur.
“While working here, we hardly ever fight or quarrel for jobs. Certainly we have conflicts,
but as close as bowls and chopsticks still hit each other sometimes. However, most of the
quarrels are caused by drunkenness and often stop at exchanging strong words, seldom
fighting.”
(FGDs of male and female workers in Buoi and Giang Vo markets)
The most important qualification of the job seekers is the ability to “promptly jump” on the
employer’s transportation means. As a result, when a person calls, they will elbow or
push each other out to jump to the motorbike. But if one is picked, the others will not fight,
quarrel or undercut the price to win the opportunity.
“We don’t compete in prices because we are brothers. If they [employers] name a bad
price and we don’t want to do the job, we will ask if anybody else wants it. We just
compete in jumping on the employer’s motorbike and that’s all. We seldom fight because
we are in the same difficult situation, as badly off as each other. ”
(FGDs of male and female workers in Buoi and Giang Vo markets)
Of the five areas surveyed, only once, at the end of December 2008 in Pham Ngoc
Thach market, did fighting take place to get work.
“There are too many people and too little work. The fighting is only for the job. Being
jobless, you are suddenly called for a job but someone else jumped in and grabbed it
from your hand. All these things push you out of control and then you fight. However,
when the fighting is over, we are still brothers.”
(Do Van D., 44, Thanh Hoa, worker in Pham Ngoc Thach market)
The majority of the day labourers also admitted that the selection of employees depends
on the feeling of the employers. Nevertheless, in most cases, although the employer has
chosen some specific people already, other people still follow. When they arrive at the
workplace, unless the employer still keeps his choice and only accepts some people, the
rest will not leave; if the employer agrees to leave the whole job to all of them, they will do

Social impacts of the economic crisis on day labourers in mobile labour markets 7
in Ha Noi, Oxfam Discussion Paper, July 2010
 it together and share the pay. This sharing is one of the methods used to reduce the
“luck”-dependent nature of the job waiting process.
“When there is little work, the employers only pick 1–2 persons but others still follow them
and then work together. For instance, they hire us to do this work for 400,000 dong. If
they only choose me or 1–2 other people, we can earn much. But if everybody goes and
works together, we will share the pay regardless of sex, because we are in the same
difficult situation.”
(FGDs of male and female workers in Buoi and Giang Vo markets)
Furthermore, some people have familiar employers for frequent jobs like cleaning,
carrying and portering. These employers do not come to the market but just make a
phone call. Many labourers have no mobile phone, but they can ask as a favour from the
others in the same market or boarding house to contact the employer, despite the risk of
the others scrambling for the work. Normally, 5 to 7 people share a cell phone on
average.
Previously, house cleaning and dish washing were considered “chores” by the male
workers, and only women did such work. However, since late 2008, the work
opportunities have gradually diminished. Consequently, in order to get payment, if the
chance is available, a considerable number of male workers are willing to get this kind of
work to get more income. For the same reason, many women are prepared to do heavy
work such as carrying/portering, assisting masons, or soil digging, which were usually
done by men before.

2.4 Overall income of manual workers in 2008 has

fallen compared with 2007
Pay rates in the end of 2008 increased by 10–20% compared to the
beginning of the same year
Basically, according to job seekers, average pay for the same work at the end of 2008
was 10–20% higher than the same period last year (although the real amounts in various
cases are far different from each other, depending on the bargain of daily wage rate and
all-in price between the employer and employee). The workers in the discussion groups
indicated changes in the prices of some major types of work as follows:
Table 2: Pay for work over the twelve months to April 2009 (dong)

February 2008 January 2009 February 2009

Construction work: (VND/day) (VND/day)

Major mason 80 000–100 000 100 000–120 000 not available yet

Supporting mason 50 000–60 000 65 000–85 000 not available yet

Digging 40 000–50 000 60 000–70 000 not available yet

VND/m3 VND/m3

Loading and unloading 30 000 VND/ton 35 000 VND/day little work

goods by hand/carrying

Transportation 100 000 VND/day 150 000 VND/day little work

The rates above are similar regardless of gender.

8 Social impacts of the economic crisis on day labourers in mobile labour markets
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In fact, at times when they are jobless, casual labourers are willing to get a job even if the
pay is poor compared to the market price or less than the effort that they have to spend.
“We are the main bread-winners of our families, our wives and children only raise 2–3
pigs at home. Selling pigs only earns some hundreds that can only pay for food and
some books for the children. So they still depend on the amount that we send them.
Therefore, no matter how much the pay is, we still do the work.”
(FGD of male workers in Buoi market)

Pay hardly raises, the cost of living dramatically increases, and job
opportunities are gone. Savings of manual workers have noticeably
dropped
In the context of food and housing costs increasing by 25–50%, the pay for a given job
only rising 10–20% and the average number of working days decreasing by 50%, the
amounts saved to send home by casual workers who seek jobs on a daily basis has
dropped considerably.
• Male workers who live far away from their home save least. On average, one person
has to spend 50 000–60 000 dongs a day including 10 000 dongs for the average
rent per day and night (this figure was 7 000 in early 2008), 5 000 to15 000 for
breakfast, 15 000-20 000 for lunch and dinner in cheap restaurants besides some for
tea and cigarettes and sometimes even for wine.
“In the beginning of 2008, the prices were lower, only 10 000 for a quite good meal
which we can eat freely. But now it is so bad. 10 000 for a poor meal, 5 000 can only
buy 3 slides of meat as small as a finger with mostly fat and little lean. If we don’t eat
enough, we will have no energy to do the work. So we have no other choice than to
buy 15 000–20 000-dong meal. We know that it is costly but what else can we do?”
(Cao Van H., 42, Thanh Hoa, worker in Pham Ngoc Thach market)
• Women that live far away from home still have to rent living space, but they often
cook meals themselves which helps them to save more money. It only takes them
18–25 000 dong per day to pay for food.
• People living in the suburbs of Ha Noi can travel back and forth daily, hence they only
have to spend 7 000 20 000 dong on lunch each day.
However, since the last months of 2008, the number of job opportunities has significantly
declined, which lessened the day labourers’ income. A high proportion of the
interviewees told us that they could save more in 2007 than 2008. On average, in 2007,
their savings reached 1.2–1.5 million dong per month, even 2 million per month
depending on the luck of getting more or fewer jobs. Yet, in 2008, they could only save
500 000 to 1 000 000 dong per month.
In particular, since Tet of this year, there has been too little construction work. Nor has
there been other work. “After last year’s Tet, I could earn hundreds; but this year, working
for the same days only brings enough cash for food and rent. Some people couldn’t even
afford those things and they had to borrow money for food.” (FGDs of male and female
casual labourers in Buoi market). Even some people from suburbs, in spite of the fact
that they don’t have to pay rent, are still worried about food because they cannot find any
work to do.
“Money is now losing its value. Last Tet, the rice price only fluctuated between 5 000 and
7 000 dong, but at present, it has increased to over 10 000 dong/kg. The most difficult
time is January, February and March, right after Tet, when we have very few jobs and no
money. We still have no jobs in April and May but we have rice. We grow subsidiary
crops from June to August. In the period from September to December, we get more
jobs. Normally, we buy meat 3–4 times per month, 300–400 grams each time, and cook it
dry for the children to eat gradually. But since Tet we haven’t got any jobs, so our
children haven’t got any meat accordingly. We can’t afford dried fish either because dried
fish is as expensive as meat at this time. The money I have earned is only enough for 2

Social impacts of the economic crisis on day labourers in mobile labour markets 9
in Ha Noi, Oxfam Discussion Paper, July 2010
000 dong of soya curd and a little pig’s nape fat which is processed into liquid fat to cook
with vegetables, to fry the soya curd and the scrap for the children to eat.”
(Phi Thi H., 35, Phuc Tho district, Ha Noi, a female worker in My Dinh overpass market)

Parents are unable to get work, children have to leave education

Tuition fees for children are one of the biggest concerns of most people who daily stand
in labour markets waiting for a job. “Food can be reduced. We can eat whatever we have;
even a bundle of vegetables picked in the garden can be food. But the tuition fees must
be submitted in time otherwise our children can’t continue their studies.” (Cao Van H., 42,
Thanh Hoa, a male worker in Pham Ngoc Thach market). The majority of interviewees
said that if their children had enough capacity and expectation to study, they would spare
no efforts to provide for their children to finish grade 12. Higher education is much more
difficult. Even if their children pass the entry exam, they can hardly afford it. But since Tet
2009, they have not even been able to afford their living expenses. Therefore, many
children are being forced to drop out of their studies because “if we rely on just some
terraces of paddy field, we will have not enough food for the whole family, never mind
tuition fees” (FGD of male workers in Buoi market).
“If we can’t earn money to send home like we have been now since January 10th of the
lunar year, it is highly likely that our second child will have to quit school to come to the
city and do housework for other families to earn for the education fees of her two younger
siblings. Some of our fellow countrymen are in the same situation. They are very upset
but they have no solution. Relatives and friends of theirs also have their own problems so
all that they can do is talk and console each other. The commune government could do
nothing to help me except by providing a permit for me to leave temporarily so that I can
leave home to work far away. In the near future, some women from my village might also
come here for work, but I am thinking of advising them not to do so but to save money for
the travelling cost to the South. Everything will be easier in the South.”
(Hoang Thi L., 39, Nghe An, a female laborer with 4 children, 2 sons and 2 daughters,
who are joining school)

10 Social impacts of the economic crisis on day labourers in mobile labour markets
in Ha Noi, Oxfam Discussion Paper, July 2010
3. Ways to cope with risk
With high social capital labourers are willing to help each other to
overcome difficulties
Despite little sharing among workers on the wage rate or earnings of the day, these day
labourers are able to borrow money from each other to overcome hard times or in
situations such as having no job, no money for rent or food, or need of money to send
home. The lenders and borrowers might not be relatives or fellow countrymen.
Sometimes, they just know each other or live closely in the same boarding house.
“If somebody has a problem, he can ask for a loan from other people even though he
might have no money to pay it back. Just like me several days ago; I have been here for
some days but couldn’t get any work. I had to borrow from the people who have been
here before and earned some. The lenders and the borrowers both remember the loan
and no one defaults on their debts. Whenever we have money, we will pay at once. We
are both in the same difficult situation. Today we borrow from them, then tomorrow, if
they need it, we can loan them back. People who earn more help the more badly-off
people when they have problems.”
(FGDs of male and female workers in Buoi and Giang Vo markets)
Most of the casual labourers have independently built personal rules for loans. They
normally ask for a loan between 100 000 and 200 000 dong on average and hardly ever
exceeding 500 000 dong; ”we don’t ask for a big loan due to the fear of inability to pay it
back. We rarely ask for a loan as well. For example, when we haven’t got money to send
home, we must think it over and estimate carefully the necessary amount based on our
needs. If we need 100 000 dong for rice and 100 000 for the children’s tuition fees, we
borrow only 200 000.” (FGD of male workers in Buoi market)

Building good relationships with house landlords and shop owners is a

temporary way to overcome the difficulties
Information collected has shown that who have good relationships with landlords and
shop owners can possibly:
• Eat on credit not exceeding 100 000 dong for a couple of days.
• Sleep on credit for a maximum of 10 days.
• Owe the shop owners up to 20 000 dongs.
Although these amounts are not big ones, they are a form of support that can help the
workers to get by for a short period if they are jobless at that time.

Social impacts of the economic crisis on day labourers in mobile labour markets 11
in Ha Noi, Oxfam Discussion Paper, July 2010
4. Future expectations and planning
Most of the labourers surveyed have the same thoughts that they will continue standing in
labour markets although the earnings might decrease due to the economic crisis. The
reasons they raised are that “limited capacity, lack of paddy fields, and absence of other
income generation activities leave us no other choice than sticking to this kind of work
because we don’t know what to do if we come back home. If we leave for home now, we
know nothing to do other than sit and look at each other. How can we live?” (FGD of male
workers in Buoi market)
If they are still jobless as in the situation following Tet 2009 and they get too heavily into
debt, some of them will probably “come back to our home town for a period of time and
listen out for a new job”. Some other people plan to try their best to borrow money to go
to the South with hopes to find a higher income and more stable job.
“Some people invite me to go to the South with them to do coffee planting. I am thinking it
over. If I am not able to earn any money in 2 weeks, I will go the South with them to give
it a try. Although I’ve never gone far before, I have to take the risk. Even not for planting
coffee but for construction work, I will go as well, provided that I can earn money to send
home to pay for my child’s education.”
(Hoang Thi L., 39, Nghe An, a female worker in Buoi market)

12 Social impacts of the economic crisis on day labourers in mobile labour markets
in Ha Noi, Oxfam Discussion Paper, July 2010
Notes
1 This research was carried out in early 2009. Twenty-five labourers, including nine
women, took part in the rapid assessment in total. The research team conducted three
Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) using PRA tools including timelines and ranking
exercises with 16 workers (of which three were female) and conducted in-depth
interviews with nine labourers (six female) in five main labour markets in Ha Noi.
2 The figures are estimates by the labourers participating in our group discussions
and interviews.

Social impacts of the economic crisis on day labourers in mobile labour markets 13
in Ha Noi, Oxfam Discussion Paper, July 2010
 © Oxfam GB July 2010
This paper was written by Dinh Thi Thu Phuong (Ageless Consulting). The text may be used free
of charge for the purposes of advocacy, campaigning, education, and research, provided that the
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14 Social impacts of the economic crisis on day labourers in mobile labour markets
in Ha Noi, Oxfam Discussion Paper, July 2010