Theory on Migrant Workers Working in the Non-State Economic Sector

Other support activities at social assistance facilities are implemented quite well and effectively; however, service provision in the community is still weak and lacking, in addition, specialized and specialized services have not been implemented. These are the gaps in providing social work services in the community in the current context [67].

Research by Pham Thanh Hai (2020) shows that many migrant workers in the non-state economic sector suffer from discrimination or marginalization because they are not recognized as official members of the community. Therefore, they have few opportunities to participate in community activities at their destination, their ability to integrate into the community is often limited and they have few opportunities to access social services in urban areas. This is one of the major difficulties for them when they need to use social services to solve problems at their destination. This is considered a vulnerable group that needs further research to find timely intervention measures from social work activities to support them in using social services to improve their quality of life at their destination [50].

Research by Bao Hiep (2021) shows that migrant workers of working age will bring many advantages to the socio-economic development process at the destination. However, the lack of full access to social security policies and social services has significantly affected the lives of migrant workers working in the KTPNN sector. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed many gaps in the implementation of policies and social services for migrant workers. This raises the issue of ensuring the right of migrant workers to have full and fair access to basic social services [58].

Research by Nguyen Thanh Huyen (2021) has shown that social assistance and the provision of social services are one of the policies to ensure social security for the people and are always of interest to the Party and the State to help the disadvantaged have the opportunity to access basic social services and escape poverty. However, the implementation of the right to social assistance and access to basic social services for the group of domestic migrant workers still faces many difficulties due to legal barriers related to regulations on study registration and exemption and reduction of tuition fees for children of domestic migrant workers; on health insurance services; electricity and clean water services for daily life; regulations on access to poverty reduction loans. This is a policy gap in the implementation of the right to social assistance and access to basic social services for migrant workers at the destination [69].

1.3. General assessment of research situation

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The policy of renovation and opening up has created conditions for economic growth in the country in general and in urban areas in particular, accelerating the urbanization process and increasing the flow of people from rural to urban areas. Therefore, the issue of migration has become one of the topical research subjects of the social sciences and humanities and has attracted the attention of many authors.

Firstly , in general, the issue of immigration has been studied by many scientists in many different fields such as: Law, Economics, Psychology, Sociology, Social Work... The studies have provided a panoramic picture of migration, immigration from rural to urban areas, causes, basic characteristics, social networks, some psychological aspects of migrant workers, difficulties in using social services in urban areas... However, in-depth research on social services for migrant workers in the KTPNN sector has not had any systematic and comprehensive research in both theory and practice.

Second , social services for migrant workers in the non-state economic zone are a new, multi-dimensional, complex research issue with many gaps that need further research. To achieve the set objectives, the thesis has synthesized and analyzed existing studies on migrant workers as well as social services for migrant workers. Depending on the scope of the research, these studies only mention migrant workers in general, with few studies on social services for migrant workers in the non-state economic zone. This will be the basis for orienting research on social services for migrant workers in the non-state economic zone. The overview of the literature has provided a general view of the research issue, from the concept of migrant workers, social services for migrant workers in the non-state economic zone.

Through the analysis and synthesis of the results of research works, some general findings of the thesis: (i) Social work services can be considered a type of social service provided by professional and semi-professional social workers. (ii) The provision of social work services cannot be separated from health services, educational services, communication services, etc. Thus, social work services include social work services, in the process of implementing social work services, social workers are required to have close connections with other social services [118], [78; p. 195]. (iii) In Vietnam, social work services have only been of interest to researchers in recent years, studies have only stopped at using individual social work methods, group social work or the role of social workers in supporting workers to solve their problems, with little mention of social work services for workers in the KTPNN sector.

Third, the laborers in the KTPNN sector have become floating subjects, not yet benefiting from social service programs. On the policy level, this is still an open issue.

The current shortage and imbalance in meeting the needs of social services for migrant workers in this area is an issue that needs to be properly considered, when migration to the city continues to increase. The thesis selectively inherits the results of many works in the world and Vietnam on social services, and continues to clarify the tasks set out in theory and practice in the research. The research content is consistent with social services including social services provided by social workers, using methods and skills of social work to support individuals, families, and communities of migrant workers in the KTPNN area to solve their problems. From the perspective of social work approach, this is a new research direction suitable for the current context, after localities have implemented Project 32 and Project 112 for the period 2021 - 2030 to identify the needs, current situation as well as evaluate the network of social work service provision for people in general and migrant workers in particular in the community, contributing to creating conditions for migrant workers in the KTPNN sector to improve their ability to effectively use social work services.

Chapter 1 Summary

Through an overview of the situation of social services for workers in the KTPNN sector, the following conclusions can be drawn:

Systematizing domestic and foreign research works shows that this is a new field in Vietnam. Research works have mentioned many issues about the current situation, migration and immigration trends; some psychological aspects of migrant workers, the ability to access social security and difficulties in using social services of migrant workers. Research on social work, especially social work services supporting migrant workers in the non-state economic zone, is still very limited. In reality, migrant workers in the non-state economic zone have become floating subjects, not benefiting from social service programs. On the policy level, this is still an open issue that needs further research. Hopefully, this thesis will partly fill the gap in previous studies and provide a more complete perspective on this issue. The current shortage and imbalance in meeting the needs of using social services for migrant workers in this area, especially the group of migrant workers without household registration in the city, is an issue that needs to be properly considered, as migration to the city continues to increase.

Research on the laborers in the KTPNN sector has shown a number of social work support activities through support models such as: legal consulting activities, family health care for mothers and children, women's clubs for domestic workers; building self-managed worker groups, some studies using individual social work methods, group social work to support laborers... These support models mainly come from non-governmental organizations in Vietnam but are still very limited, especially for laborers in the KTPNN sector. Research also shows that the role of network coordination is still open, currently the organizations providing services are spontaneous, there is a lack of connecting services into a network and the role of network coordination. However, these studies will be the basis for research on appropriate support activities for laborers in the KTPNN sector to use social work services, which is extremely meaningful in the current context.

Chapter 2

THEORY ON SOCIAL WORK SERVICES FOR MIGRANT WORKERS IN THE NON-STATE ECONOMIC SECTOR

2.1. Theory on migrant workers working in the non-state economic sector

2.1.1. Immigration and migrant workers

Currently, there is no unified concept of immigration that can be applied universally around the world. Depending on the political and economic purposes, each country adjusts accordingly. There are concepts that consider immigrants as people who move from other places, whether or not they have permanent residence.

Within the scope of the thesis, the concept of immigration can be understood as: Immigration is the movement of residence from administrative units of one province to administrative units of another province within a certain period of time. People who move from other areas but have been granted permanent residence and people who move within an administrative unit (province/city) are not considered immigrants.

According to Clause 1, Article 3 of the Labor Code (2019): An employee is a person aged 15 years or older, capable of working, working for an employer according to an agreement, receiving wages and being managed, directed and supervised by the employer [96; p. 1]. Employees work in many different fields and occupations in society, in charge of many positions as well as holding different positions in an organization.

According to Action Aid Vietnam (2014): Migrant workers are those who move from rural areas to urban areas (regardless of time of residence) and are not granted permanent residence registration - a population registration certificate that allows them equal rights with other citizens in their place of residence in accessing social security [1; p. 2].

Author Truong Nguyen Bao Tran (2016), migrant workers are people aged 15 years or older, capable of working, moving from another region and settling or temporarily residing in a new administrative unit for employment purposes (this movement does not take into account the scope of the same administrative unit such as province/city). This immigration activity includes both people with temporary residence registration and those who have not registered for temporary residence [128; p.14].

Thus, NLĐNC is understood as people of working age moving from an administrative unit of one province/city to another administrative unit of another province/city to live and work for 6 months or more with registration.

According to the regulations on temporary residence registration procedures and do not have a permanent residence registration at the destination. Workers who have been granted permanent residence registration are not included in this category.

2.1.2. Non-state economic sector

According to Stiglitz (1986), the public non-profit sector typically includes organizations that are privately owned and not part of the government. This sector typically includes corporations (both for-profit and non-profit), partnerships, and charities. In simpler terms, the public non-profit sector is an organization that is not owned or operated by the government [88].

Along with the development of the economy, the non-state economic sector has developed rapidly and achieved certain results. With the policy of encouraging and supporting the activities of this sector, the number of non-state enterprises in our country has increased rapidly. In addition, due to the diversity in the types of the non-state economy, it is present in all industries and fields, present in both rural and urban areas, can be easily established by an individual, a family, or a number of shareholders associated in the form of a limited liability company, a joint stock company, along with the use of production techniques that require a relatively large amount of labor. Therefore, the development of the non-state economic sector creates conditions to attract labor, contributes to reducing the unemployment rate in society and is the place to create jobs faster and easier than the state economy.

According to the State Enterprise Law promulgated on April 20, 1995, the amended Enterprise Law passed by the 10th National Assembly, 5th session on June 12, 1999, and the Law on Domestic Investment Promotion passed on June 22, 1994, it is stipulated that: An enterprise is an economic organization with its own name, assets, a stable transaction office and is registered for business in accordance with the provisions of law for the purpose of carrying out production and business activities. Business is the implementation of some or all stages of the investment process, from production and business to product consumption or provision of goods and services on the market for the purpose of making a profit.

Non-state enterprises include enterprises with capital sources privately owned by an individual or a group of individuals with State ownership but accounting for 50% or less of the charter capital. Non-state enterprises include: (1) Private enterprises; (2) Partnerships; (3) Private limited liability companies; (4) Joint stock companies without State capital; (5) Joint stock companies with a State capital ratio of 50% or less of the charter capital. Within the scope of the thesis, only private enterprises, joint stock companies, LLCs, and joint ventures are mentioned [125], while foreign enterprises operating under the Law on Foreign Investment are not considered.

within the scope of the thesis. Thus, the private economic sector is all private production and business units or groups of people recognized by law to establish, invest in business and organize management.

2.1.3. Migrant workers in the non-state economic sector

Within the framework of this study, migrant workers working in the non-state economic sector: are understood as people of working age who move from one administrative unit of one province/city to another administrative unit of another province/city to live and work in enterprises and private production and business units that are established, invested in, and managed for a period of 6 months or more, registered according to the temporary residence registration procedures and do not have a permanent residence at the destination. Migrant workers who have been granted permanent residence and work in the formal economic sector are not included in this category.

In recent years, there have been many research projects on migrant workers in the KTPNN sector in Vietnam, especially in the 90s and recent years. In many localities, people leave, every household has workers working far away, regardless of gender or age. The concentration of diverse population origins has created a large and heterogeneous population network. Therefore, it creates pressure on overloaded economic, cultural and social infrastructure, especially issues of access to social services and social security for migrant workers in the KTPNN sector. Migrant workers working in the KTPNN sector have the following characteristics:

- Demographic characteristics

Demographic characteristics reflect the demographic characteristics of immigrants such as age, gender, and marital status. Studies on immigration all have a common observation that migrant workers are often people of working age and are increasingly younger, and all have concluded that the phenomenon of female migrants accounts for a high proportion and often participates in the labor force in the non-state economic sector. The average age of migrants is quite young. Migration is concentrated in the age group of 15-39 (accounting for 85% of the age group of 15-59), this rate in the 2004 survey was 79%, and often unskilled people moving from rural and urban areas to seek job opportunities in the non-state economic sector has not decreased to this day [122].

These studies show that migration is selective and this selectivity depends on different socio-economic conditions of migration and the type of migration. In addition to age selectivity, the place of origin of migrant workers is quite diverse, coming from many different provinces and cities across the country migrating to Ho Chi Minh City [46].

- Characteristics of education and expertise

The educational level and professional qualifications of the KTPNN sector are mainly at the junior high and high school levels, with men often having higher education levels than women. Low educational levels will make it difficult to find a job with a stable income. In addition, the proportion of untrained workers in the KTPNN sector is very high. Women tend to migrate more and more, forming an important force in the KTPNN sector and they are facing many challenges in accessing social services in urban areas [115].

Previous studies have also noted that education is an indirect factor affecting the income of workers [46]. In urban areas, advanced science and technology are increasingly applied in the production process, where the fierce competition of the selective labor market makes it easier for people with professional qualifications to find a suitable job. The professional qualifications and skills of workers will increase their earning potential and job prospects, bringing greater benefits to society. Indeed, when reaching a high level of skill, workers are able to find jobs to increase their income for themselves and their families.

- Characteristics of employment, income, living conditions

In terms of living conditions, most migrant workers in this area often face an unsafe working environment, low income and temporary living conditions. They are almost never signed labor contracts, or if they have labor contracts, they are often not covered by social insurance or health insurance. Therefore, social insurance benefits, profit sharing, and paid leave are almost non-existent for jobs in this area. Another point worth noting is the barriers to budget allocation based on permanent population, and many regulations on access to social security services are still tied to household registration.

The jobs of workers in the KTPNN sector are very diverse and colorful. Depending on the scale of each facility and the nature of the work, the working conditions of workers in this sector are relatively different. They often participate in wage work in some private companies, household economic production facilities, home-based tailors, freelance workers, etc., filling the large gaps in employment in today's urban society. The nature of the work is often unstable, simple work, not requiring skills, with short hours or wages below the prescribed threshold; especially because of the nature of their work, labor regulations are not applied for many different reasons.

SDRC's research (2015) showed that employees in the KTPNN sector only search for information when there is an important matter related to their lives, such as their children going to school.

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