The proposal is included in a draft circular guiding incentive, reward and support policies for organizations and individuals that perform well in population-related work.

Under the draft, the Ministry of Health proposes recognizing and supporting couples and individuals of reproductive age who have at least two daughters under 16 and raise healthy, well-behaved, academically successful children, with the aim of helping reduce the sex ratio imbalance at birth.

The ministry is seeking public feedback on the draft until Oct. 8. The age of 16 would be calculated at the time a family is proposed for support.

Compared with an earlier consultation in July, the drafting agency has revised several provisions, including the eligibility criteria.

Instead of referring to "families with two daughters," the latest proposal covers "couples and individuals of reproductive age with at least two daughters under 16."

It also specifies criteria including "raising healthy children, teaching them to behave well, and having children who perform well academically and achieve success."

The previous version proposed assistance for girls from poor and near-poor households, ethnic minority and mountainous communities, particularly disadvantaged coastal and island communities, and communes along Vietnam's land borders.

In the latest consultation, the ministry no longer limits the proposal to those groups, instead broadening it to "girls."

Proposed forms of assistance include support for student health insurance and school milk programs, as well as other appropriate measures.

Tuition exemptions and reductions and support for women's economic development, which appeared in the previous consultation, are no longer among the measures specifically listed.

Could the policy create reverse inequality?

"Of course, this measure is intended to help reduce the sex ratio imbalance at birth, but not everyone deliberately tries to have two sons. There are plenty of families who want daughters but cannot have them," said N.T., 35, a reader in Hanoi. "Vietnam already has a surplus of men. Now, if you have a son, you even worry that he might not be able to find a wife in the future."

Another Hanoi resident, L.N., said she felt it was unfair to link the value of girls to criteria such as being "academically successful" or "successful" more broadly.

She also questioned how "success" could be defined when the children concerned are younger than 16.

"Should academic achievement be a condition for a family to receive recognition? If a girl has average academic performance but is raised well, would her family receive support?" she asked.

Speaking to VietNamNet, Trinh Phuong Thao, PhD, a lecturer at the Faculty of Social Work at Hanoi National University of Education, said the proposal should be considered within Vietnam's broader strategy for addressing the sex ratio imbalance at birth.

She stressed that such support should not be treated as the central solution, but rather as one tool within a wider package of policies.

Alongside financial or other assistance, she said Vietnam needs to change social norms favoring sons, strengthen the position of women and girls, control prenatal sex selection and improve social security for older people.

Thao also questioned whether a policy specifically supporting families with at least two daughters could create reverse inequality for boys and other groups.

"If additional resources help girls overcome disadvantages created by son preference, this could be a measure aimed at substantive equality," she said.

However, Thao warned that the policy could prove counterproductive if it unintentionally reinforced the idea that having daughters is a disadvantage requiring "compensation."

Giang Thanh Long, PhD, a senior lecturer at the National Economics University in Hanoi, raised a similar concern.

He said assistance for families with daughters must be carefully designed to avoid sending the message that girls require "compensation."

He also pointed to a policy dilemma: supporting all girls would require substantial resources, while limiting assistance to certain families could reinforce the perception that the policy represents compensation.

According to the two experts, the root cause of Vietnam's sex ratio imbalance at birth goes beyond whether some families have access to technologies that enable prenatal sex selection.

At a deeper level, the social desire to have sons remains persistent. Unless that preference changes, they said, a standalone support measure is unlikely to produce lasting change.

Vo Thu