This report presents the results of the new approach to measuring poverty and standards of living, which the Royal Government of Cambodia initiated and carried out through 2011-2012. This report presents the results of the new approach to measuring poverty and standards of living,which the Royal Government of Cambodia initiated and carried out through 2011-2012.
The ultimate purpose of development is raising people's standards of living. There is more than just altruistic motive to it, as excessive and sustained poverty and inequality can threaten both economic and political stability in any society. The world has witnessed this time and again.
A pre-requisite to launching poverty alleviation policies is getting a realistic measure and estimate of poverty. The earlier poverty line drawn in 1997, based on data from the Cambodia Socioeconomic Survey (CSES) of 1993-1994, served the purpose until about the first decade of the present century.
With changing realities over time, however, there is need to define a new poverty line. Most developing countries review their poverty lines every decade or two: E.g. both Vietnam and India have recently redefined their poverty lines. As the Royal Government of Cambodia is about to embark on the formulation of the new National Strategic Economic Development Plan, it is timely to redefine the
poverty line.
