Recent nationwide survey by the Mekong Development Research Institute, Hanoi (MDRI) found that employment opportunities, environmental pollution, and corruption are top issues that become main concerns among Vietnamese citizens.

Conducted in 2018, the study involved 1,400 people aged 18 and over in 34 provinces and cities in Vietnam. In its findings of what respondents worried most, about 24 percent said that employment was their primary concern, followed with air pollution (17 percent) and corruption (16 percent).

Concern about job openings was found to be stronger among respondents in the countryside, high school graduates and those who earned less than VND5 million a month ($215). Vietnam’s average GDP per capita in 2018 was around $2,500.

Dr. Phung Duc Tung, Director of MDRI, said the results reflect reality in Vietnamese society. The 18 to 30 years old demographic was naturally more anxious about employment than other age groups, VN Express reports.

Hanoi, with a population of 7.7 million, recorded air pollution four times higher than WHO standards in 2017. Regarding this issue, the survey came up with an unusual finding on gender difference. Dr. Tung noted that men tend to be more troubled by air pollution than women, and respondents between 30 and 40 years old are the primary worriers of this pollution. Citizens living in the north of the country were more worried about air pollution than those in the central and southern regions, and the level of concern was the same among urban and suburban dwellers.

Meanwhile, on climate change issue, 43 percent Vietnamese think the climate change situation will worsen in the next five years, 37 percent are positive about improvement and 20 percent think it will remain static.

For people in the 18 to 40 age bracket, those 50 years and older saw corruption as a greater concern.

“The more educated, the more they are worried about this issue,” Tung said. More specifically, 50 percent of postgraduates were concerned about corruption, while only 8 percent of people without degrees shared the concern.

“There is a visible contrast between workers in the public and private sector. 23 percent in the former say corruption is a worry, while only 14 percent in the latter say so,” the MDRI director noted.

On the bright side, the study found most people (68 percent) believe the corruption situation will improve in the next five years. Only about 17 percent think the situation will not change and a small percentage believes it will get worse.

Read also: Polluted Environment Impacts Employee Productivity: NUS Research