Minimum wage, poverty reduction and human rights in Cambodia: a case study

Abstract

This paper aims to provide an overview of minimum wage development in Cambodia and the roles it plays in helping to reduce the poverty in Cambodia. The paper examines whether the minimum wage is contributing to anti-poverty reduction policies. Whether introducing the minimum wage in the garment and footwear sector helps alleviating poverty in Cambodia through the human rights based approaches in terms of policies, programming, and activities undertaken to reduce poverty. An examination of data from key Government’s policies reveals that the poverty rates reduced from 47.8% in 2007 to 9.5% in 2019. The paper will also look at the human rights dimension of minimum wage as one of the key fundamental rights for both labour rights and human rights, the right to work and receive wages, right to equal pay for work of equal value and a fair wage. The research methodology is concentrated with literature review of relevant international laws and Cambodian regulations on minimum wage development and its role in poverty alleviation.