Lê Giang wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on August 8, 2025. Đàm Vĩnh Hằng translated it into English for The Vietnamese Magazine.
Soaring Housing Prices and Daily Costs Push Young Vietnamese Away from Parenthood
Recent reports show that housing prices in Việt Nam’s major cities continue to climb to staggering levels. By the second quarter of 2025, the average apartment price in Hà Nội had reached 76 million đồng per square meter, while in Hồ Chí Minh City it hovered around 80 million đồng/m²—a 48% increase in just six years. In Đà Nẵng, prices have soared by 70% over the same period.
These figures are far beyond the reach of the average worker, whose income is already stretched thin by daily living expenses. An investigation by Luật Khoa Magazine found that for unskilled workers in Hà Nội, the average monthly cost of living (8–9 million đồng) already exceeds their average monthly income (6–8 million đồng), making the dream of saving for a home a near impossibility.
Amid this “price storm” in both real estate and daily necessities, a profound question arises: Do young people still “dare” to have children? The answer has profound consequences for Việt Nam’s future and raises further questions about whether the state has responded appropriately to the economic crisis facing its next generation.
Do Young People Truly Have the Freedom to Choose Parenthood?
Across Vietnamese state-run media, having children is promoted as both a right and a duty for married couples. Public discourse often follows this line, criticizing those who are “hesitant” or “afraid” to marry and start families, blaming them for a declining birth rate and its potential negative impacts on the nation.
However, to rush into condemning those who choose not to become parents without considering their real-life circumstances is fundamentally unfair.
The real question is not one of desire, but of agency. Do young people in Việt Nam today truly have the freedom to choose whether to have children? Or have the harsh economic realities of modern life become a barrier so high that it effectively makes the choice for them?
When the Dream of a Home Drifts Further Away
Việt Nam’s real estate market is experiencing dizzying growth, pushing the dream of homeownership further out of reach, especially in major cities. In the first half of 2025, constantly rising housing prices in major urban centers have raised the risk of a “real estate bubble.”
According to the Việt Nam Association of Realtors (VARS), apartment prices in Hà Nội have risen by 87% in the last six years. This crisis is exacerbated by a skewed housing supply: the luxury segment makes up 62% of nationwide listings, while affordable apartments are scarce, accounting for just 4–7% in Hà Nội and Hồ Chí Minh City.
This price explosion has far outpaced wage growth. While property values have skyrocketed, average wages have risen by only about 10%, creating a huge gap between market prices and what most workers can afford. For those who cannot buy, renting is also becoming more expensive. Lao Động newspaper reports that rents for boarding rooms and “mini-apartments” in Hà Nội have risen by 10–15%, a burden compounded by inflated utility rates and official electricity price hikes.
A recent investigation by Luật Khoa Magazine into housing demand and supply reveals some of the key drivers behind this crisis. The key findings include:
- Large developers such as Vingroup, Sun Group, and Novaland have continued to expand projects nationwide, and speculative “flipping” of apartments, while easing slightly, has not led to price drops.
- Land prices in Hà Nội’s outskirts have surged dramatically, in some cases from 100–200 million đồng/m² in 2023 to 300–400 million đồng/m² today, even for houses in small alleys.
- Following the recent provincial mergers, property prices have spiked in newly expanded administrative areas. In Hưng Yên, the home province of General Secretary Tô Lâm, prices in some areas have surpassed those in Hà Nội.
Wages and Living Costs Block the Path to Parenthood
For anyone in the labor market, living expenses are a constant worry. Put simply, they are an invisible barrier to enjoying a comfortable life. The formula is straightforward: with the same income, the lower the living costs, the easier it is to cover basic needs and save for other expenses. While buying a home can be a long-term goal, these day-to-day costs are an unavoidable equation that must be solved daily.
The burden of “rice, clothes, and money” grows heavier still when a couple welcomes a new member to the family, bringing countless extra costs that require meticulous calculation. As detailed in the Luật Khoa Magazine series “Living on Wages” by author Hiếu Mạnh, the strain on average-income urban workers is immense. For someone earning 10 million đồng/month, their budget can just barely meet the basic needs for a family with one small child, with virtually no savings for leisure, socializing, or emergencies.
Table: Estimated basic monthly expenses for a worker earning 10 million đồng/month in Hồ Chí Minh City and Hà Nội. Source: Hiếu Mạnh / Luật Khoa magazine)
The long-term costs are even more daunting. According to an analysis by Stag, the basic cost of raising a child in Việt Nam from birth to age 22 now exceeds 4.2 billion đồng, an estimate that only covers essentials.
As Hiếu Mạnh notes, this financial cost is only the “necessary” condition; it does not account for the enormous “unpaid labor”—the time and energy parents must devote to childcare—which represents a real but often invisible cost.
Table: Estimated cost of raising a child over 22 years, broken down by year. Source: Stag
The combined weight of daily expenses and soaring housing prices has become a fortress blocking many young people’s hopes of marriage and parenthood. This personal economic crisis is unfolding just as Việt Nam enters an aging population phase, creating a demographic crisis that threatens future economic growth and social stability. Faced with this, what has the state done, and are its measures enough?
