“I don’t see our future. We can’t return to the countryside because there is no suitable job for us there. In Hanoi, the living cost is very expensive and it is really a big challenge for us”.

Mr. Quang, an IT expert at a ministry in Hanoi, has been a state employee since he graduated from university ten years ago but he dares not to get married.

Though his salary has been increased three times, Quang’s total income is now VND2.8 million ($140) a month.

Quang lived very economically but it cost him at least VND2 million to pay for cooking, gas, etc. He had only VND800,000 ($40) for other tasks like weddings, funerals, going to café with his friends, etc. His parents, who are retired officials, still had to support him.

Quang didn’t want to visit their parents often because every time they \ urged him to get married, because Quang is now 30 already.

Quang is in a dilemma. He couldn’t explain to their parents that he can’t afford to get married because his parents tried their best to support him at university and now he didn’t want to complain to them. However, he can’t change the job because his parents fiercely protested that idea.

“My parents had to pay a lot of money to get this job for me. They are always proud that their son is a Party member and a state employee. But they live in the countryside so they don’t understand the difficulties for a low-income earner who lives in the most expensive city in the country like me,” Quang explained.

Quang’s close friend, who is working for a state-owned specialized magazine, is in the same situation. He earns nearly VND3 million ($150) a month and he also dares not to get married.

“I can’t take care of myself so I can’t take care of others. Though I’ve thought about getting married many times but I can’t,” Quang said.

Quang works at a big ministry which recruits many young people who have got doctor degrees from overseas universities and these people’s salary is not much higher than Quang’s. However, most of them have got married before they joined the ministry and their families are well-off.

Quang knows that he can’t wait until his salary is high enough to get married because that day will never come. Quang said that he is seeking a way-out.

Some state employees in the similar situation are braver than Quang when they decided to get married even though their salary is low. However, some couples dare not to have baby because their total income is less than VND4 million ($200) a month and they have to live in hired rooms.

“If we have baby right now, our child will suffer from poverty. Both our lives and our child’s life will be miserable. We want a child but we have to wait until we save some money,” a young state employee wrote on an online forum.

Kien and his wife work for a state-owned publishing house. Their parents are not rich so the young couples have to struggle with their life.

“I don’t see our future. We can’t return to the countryside because there is no suitable job for us there. in this city (Hanoi), the living cost is very expensive and it is really a big challenge for us,” Kien said.

His daughter is 14 months old but he can’t afford to send her to a good kindergarten. The child is sent to a private kindergarten where the fee is only VND400,000 ($20) a month.

“My daughter is still small but my wife had to wean because she had to work. We have to feed her with powder milk. But I can’t buy imported milk for her because it is very expensive ($20-30/can). Sometimes we have to feed her with a lot of rice powder to compensate for milk,” Kien said sadly.

The couple never thinks of having the second child in this situation.

Kien wanted to quit this job but to get a good job, he needs to invest in further studies (expertise and English) but he doesn’t have money for it. Moreover, working for a state firm for a long time, Kien has become “inert”.

Cam Quyen