Abstract/Summary
We quantify the effects of reopening economic activities after the COVID-19 pandemic
lockdown on the lives and livelihoods of the workers in the garment, footwear, and
travel goods sector in Cambodia. We employ fixed-effects difference-in-differences
and quantile regression analyses using a panel survey of 2,000 workers interviewed
by phone in June 2021 and June 2022. The impacts are disaggregated by gender. We
find that lives and livelihoods of female and male workers have improved since the
reopening, albeit not out of the woods and to the pre-pandemic level. The reopening
has had positive and significant effects on wage and non-wage earnings of the
workers, and female respondents have benefited as much as their male counterparts.
Household consumption and remittances have increased, whereas the incidence of
food insecurity has lowered. While the COVID-19 infection rate has subsided and been
less fatal, and the probability of another lockdown remains low, new challenges have
emerged, particularly the rising price of oil and food. We suggest interventions that
could help lessen the negative impacts.