Assessment of Basic Social Services Coverage on Life Quality for Ethnic Minorities in Vietnam

Abstract

This research uses the weighting method to build a composite index of life quality and an impact assessment model to explain the relationship between basic social services coverage and life quality for ethnic minorities in Vietnam. The study uses secondary data collected through Vietnam Household Living Standards Surveys (VHLSS), the survey on the socio-economic situation of 53 ethnic minorities in 2015 and provincial GDP per capita data conducted by the General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO). The results show that the life quality of ethnic minorities is relatively low compared to the majority and quite different among localities. The results also reveal that basic social services coverage, especially in terms of health and education, plays an important role in improving the life quality of ethnic minorities. In addition, improving the quality of infrastructure, especially transport and communication infrastructure, is important to increase accessibility to basic social services for ethnic minorities.