There is a social revolution taking place in Viet Nam and it is occurring among the nation’s youth, especially its young single women.

Buoyed by the rewards of their country’s decade-long economic boom, they are becoming not only materially better off, but also more culturally emancipated.

They love their trendy clothes, nifty motor scooters, boutique hair salons and digital cellphones, and they also want more social freedom to relish these consumer delights.

That means they do not want to get married and have kids by the time they are 20, as most of their parents had done.

And they certainly do not want to be fixed up with a local lad deemed by their family to be a suitable husband, as had often happened in the past.

No, today’s young Viet Namese working women want to have some fun first.

Nguyen Thuy Van, 29, who works for a Ha Noi film distribution company, said: "Nowadays, girls here want to follow a modern lifestyle, they want to be more open in society and in their love life."

Consequently, in a little-noticed but portentous change from the past, more and more are playing the field before settling down.

Pham Kieu Hanh, 20, who works for a Ha Noi trading company, said: "Of course I want to have more boyfriends so that I can choose one who suits me."

As a result, many Viet Namese women now put off marriage until they reach mid to late 20s.

And when they do marry, they spurn having a big brood of kids and opt for two at the most.

Nguyen Thu Nga, 21, a business management student at Ha Noi’s Trade University, echoed the views of her peers when she said: "Many young women don’t want to have a lot of children like their parents did because they will be too tied down. It takes so much time and money to look after children."

As recently as. 1998, the typical woman in Viet Nam had 3.8 children, but by last year, the figure had plummeted to 2.1 and it continues to fall.

The ruling communist regime does not know whether to cheer or lament.

Nga said: "Personally, I want only one baby, either a boy or a girl. And I don’t want to have to supervise my future husband all the time. As long as he is a responsible husband and father, I think it’s better if we both allow each other more freedom."

In an even more startling development, many single Viet Namese women say they are no longer sure they want to get hitched at all.

Visibly energised and joyful about their newfound freedom, they sense that in today’s increasingly affluent and culturally open society, they can get along nicely without a hubby.

Certainly, their attitudes towards sex have undergone a dramatic change and a majority now say that premarital sex is acceptable and perhaps even natural.

Van said: "Most young women in the cities have sex before getting married. It has become an inevitable trend as society modernises here."

Viet Nam is the 13th most populous country in the world and more than half of its nearly 85 million people are under 25 years old.

They have the same hormonal instincts as other young people around the world.

And they appear no longer willing to accept the conservative strictures that governed the social lives of their parents and grandparents.

Dr. Le Bach Duong, the director of Ha Noi’s Institute for Social Development Studies, said: "It is difficult to know exactly how many Viet Namese girls have sex before marriage, but it is indisputable that the number is increasing very fast."

According to official statistics, the average age when Viet Namese youths have sex for the first time is 19.6.

But few dispute that the real figure is much lower and that it cuts across all social strata and regions of the country.

In an address last year, Ian Howie, the United Nations Population Fund representative in Viet Nam, said: "Pre-marital sex is more common than it was for previous generations."

According to a recent survey, nearly one in five of Viet Nam’s young people aged 15 to 24 has had sex, he said.

The trend is perhaps most evident among Viet Nam’s students and young urban professionals.

A survey I last month at eight universities in Ho Chi Minh City and Ha Noi revealed that more than two thirds of the students thought sex before marriage was acceptable, or if they did not personally favour it, they had no objection to others doing it.

In fact, more and more young Viet Namese women are starting to cohabit with their boyfriends before marriage.

When Le Thuy Linh, 21, a student at Ha Noi National University, first moved in with her boyfriend, she was concerned about what other people would say.

But she soon found out that there were other young couples living together in the same lodging house.

Said Linh: "Nothing serious happened to them, so I felt more relaxed and confident about us living together. Now I think it’s not a big deal."

And if chastisement is a concern, many young couples now enter into "informal" marriages.

The girls have a wedding ceremony with their boyfriends and even exchange vows and rings, but they do not officially register the marriage with the authorities. That way, they avoid gossip and they can split up without the bureaucratic hassle that comes with divorce proceedings in Viet Nam.

Van said: "Like many other girls, I had a wedding but we didn’t register it with the government because that will not help us have a happier life. Our behaviour towards each other will do that.

"And if we don’t get along, we’ll be able to separate more easily," she added, in a further sign of the startling change in social attitudes of young Viet Namese women.