Table 1.
Descriptive statistics
| 2004 | 2006 | 2008 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean | S.E. | Mean | S.E. | Mean | S.E. | |
| Household expenditures and income (in real dong) | ||||||
| Total household expenditures (non‐health) | 17,227.601 | (497.228) | 22,570.169 | (579.914) | 30,237.584 | (711.302) |
| Food expenditures | 7,862.832 | (168.307) | 10,479.686 | (186.455) | 13,401.104 | (227.226) |
| Non‐food expenditures (non‐health) | 9,366.769 | (353.647) | 12,092.484 | (442.832) | 16,838.479 | (538.888) |
| Education expenditures | 947.871 | (44.368) | 1,305.029 | (63.486) | 1,577.588 | (78.169) |
| Health expenditures | 1,180.039 | (141.896) | 1,195.734 | (82.828) | 1,934.864 | (207.314) |
| Income (earned) | 19,557.951 | (678.139) | 27,399.274 | (1,051.503) | 36,538.623 | (1,534.089) |
| Health shocks of working‐age member(s) of household | ||||||
| Household with a member unable to carry out regular activities for at least 1 day | 0.433 | (0.014) | 0.438 | (0.015) | 0.418 | (0.014) |
| Days unable to carry out regular activities because of illness/injury | 11.951 | (0.916) | 11.002 | (0.829) | 9.169 | (0.829) |
| Household with a member in bed due to illness/injury for at least 1 day | 0.188 | (0.011) | 0.173 | (0.010) | 0.159 | (0.010) |
| Days in bed due to illness/injury | 4.148 | (0.575) | 2.734 | (0.344) | 2.395 | (0.317) |
| Household with member hospitalized in the past year | 0.153 | (0.010) | 0.150 | (0.010) | 0.167 | (0.010) |
| Characteristics of the household | ||||||
| Household size | 4.339 | (0.044) | 4.266 | (0.045) | 4.105 | (0.045) |
| Share of household members under age 16 years | 0.261 | (0.006) | 0.234 | (0.006) | 0.182 | (0.005) |
| Share of household members over age 60 years | 0.120 | (0.007) | 0.130 | (0.007) | 0.151 | (0.007) |
| Share of male household members | 0.492 | (0.005) | 0.484 | (0.005) | 0.454 | (0.005) |
| Household lives in a remote commune | 0.152 | (0.014) | 0.130 | (0.013) | 0.145 | (0.014) |
| Household lives in an urban area | 0.220 | (0.016) | 0.227 | (0.016) | 0.230 | (0.016) |
| Region of the household | ||||||
| Red River Delta | 0.249 | (0.006) | 0.249 | (0.006) | 0.249 | (0.006) |
| Northeast | 0.123 | (0.003) | 0.123 | (0.003) | 0.123 | (0.003) |
| Northwest | 0.024 | (0.001) | 0.024 | (0.001) | 0.024 | (0.001) |
| North Central Coast | 0.152 | (0.005) | 0.152 | (0.005) | 0.152 | (0.005) |
| South Central Coast | 0.084 | (0.003) | 0.084 | (0.003) | 0.084 | (0.003) |
| Central Highlands | 0.036 | (0.002) | 0.036 | (0.002) | 0.036 | (0.002) |
| Southeast | 0.140 | (0.005) | 0.140 | (0.005) | 0.140 | (0.005) |
| Mekong Delta | 0.192 | (0.005) | 0.192 | (0.005) | 0.192 | (0.005) |
| Month of interview | 7.686 | (0.074) | 7.708 | (0.071) | 7.399 | (0.059) |
| Change in household head since the previous wave | NA | 0.093 | (0.008) | 0.074 | (0.007) | |
| Characteristics of the household head | ||||||
| Age | 49.264 | (0.386) | 50.395 | (0.382) | 51.845 | (0.361) |
| Married | 0.798 | (0.011) | 0.803 | (0.011) | 0.800 | (0.011) |
| Ethnic minority | 0.116 | (0.010) | 0.117 | (0.010) | 0.116 | (0.010) |
| Male | 0.740 | (0.012) | 0.735 | (0.013) | 0.726 | (0.012) |
| No formal education | 0.283 | (0.012) | 0.256 | (0.012) | 0.253 | (0.012) |
| Primary school certificate | 0.235 | (0.011) | 0.241 | (0.011) | 0.240 | (0.011) |
| Lower secondary school certificate | 0.320 | (0.012) | 0.324 | (0.013) | 0.322 | (0.013) |
| Upper secondary school certificate | 0.124 | (0.009) | 0.136 | (0.010) | 0.138 | (0.010) |
| Above secondary education | 0.037 | (0.006) | 0.043 | (0.006) | 0.044 | (0.006) |
S.E., standard error; NA, not applicable.
Source: Authors' calculations based on Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey data for years 2004, 2006, and 2008.
Sample size is N = 1552 households for each wave. Means are weighted to reflect the complex survey design.