Millions of children and families in Cambodia live in poverty and struggle to meet their basic needs.
Challenges like malnutrition, limited healthcare and a lack of educational opportunities keep children and families trapped in poverty.
Local churches are helping to break the cycle of poverty by sharing the gospel in word and action, caring for children’s critical physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs.
Facts About Poverty in Cambodia
Cambodia is a land of temple marvels, breathtaking landscapes and warmhearted, resilient people. If you journey through Cambodia, you’ll want to explore Angkor Wat, a 12th-century temple complex. Beyond the ancient ruins, you’ll find floating villages, pristine beaches and cuisine you’ll have to taste to believe, like fish amok — spiced, steamed fish with a delectable mousse-like texture.
During your travel through Cambodia, you’ll experience rich heritage and vibrant traditions, from the temples to the lively markets to the serene countryside. You’ll also witness the challenges of poverty that many of Cambodia’s families must endure.
Cambodia Poverty Rate
According to the World Bank’s most recent data, over 17% of Cambodians live in poverty, which is more than 3 million people. For the families Compassion serves, around 77% make less than $3.65 per day, far from enough to meet their most basic needs, like nutritious food, safe water and medical care.
What Causes Poverty in Cambodia?
Poverty in Cambodia is linked to challenges from both the past and the present. One of history’s darkest tragedies, the Khmer Rouge genocide, resulted in 1.7 to 2 million Cambodians losing their lives between 1975 and 1979. The loss, displacement and trauma that followed left lasting scars on families and communities, contributing to the poverty many Cambodians face today.
For many families, limited access to education, healthcare and stable job opportunities also make it challenging to break the cycle of poverty. For example, many in Cambodia must rely on small farms for income. But severe weather patterns, like extreme heat and flooding, can damage crops, making it hard for families to provide for their needs, let alone get ahead.
The Challenges of Living in Poverty in Cambodia
What are the effects of living in poverty? Families face many unique challenges that threaten their well-being and limit their opportunities for a brighter future.
Limited Healthcare
In the most impoverished places of Cambodia, many people lack accessible healthcare services. When sick or hurt, these families must often travel long distances to reach clinics or hospitals, which comes at a cost many simply can’t afford. This is especially dangerous for expectant moms and their babies, who may go without skilled pre- and postnatal care.
The Impact
For families living in poverty, even routine health needs can quickly become crises. Without healthcare services, caregivers may suffer from constant illness or injury, keeping them away from work, unable to provide and trapped in a cycle of poverty. Children may go without medical checkups and care that protect their health, preventing them from attending school, playing with friends and growing as God intended.
Sadly, the risks are especially high for babies, who are highly vulnerable and need medical care to survive and thrive. According to the World Bank, 16 babies out of 1,000 lose their lives each year in Cambodia, compared to 6 out of 1,000 in the U.S. (at the time of writing). Their mothers face serious health risks before, during and after birth, including infections, labor complications and malnutrition.
You can help a precious baby in Cambodia thrive by donating medical care.
Malnutrition
Malnutrition happens when the body doesn’t get enough of the nutrients it needs to work properly. Cambodia faces moderate rates of malnutrition, according to the Global Hunger Index. Children are especially vulnerable, with 22% of children under 5 suffering from stunting (impaired growth). In Cambodia’s most impoverished communities, where Compassion serves, the problem is often much more severe.
The Impact
Malnutrition keeps children from growing as they should. Without enough nutritious food, children can suffer damage to their physical and cognitive development, making learning a challenge and limiting their ability to reach their full potential and find steady work as adults. Hunger can also weaken their immune systems, leaving them susceptible to disease, illness and even death.
Lack of Education
While public school tuition is free in Cambodia, many families in poverty still struggle to afford costs like school uniforms, supplies and transportation. Some children live too far from school to attend regularly, while others are forced to miss class or leave altogether to help support their families.
Many families migrate frequently for work, which disrupts a child’s education. In communities facing poverty, these realities put education out of reach for many children.
The Impact
Education is powerful. With education, children can grow into adults with the skills and knowledge needed to provide for themselves and their families. But without it, children may struggle to find quality, stable work when they get older, making it harder to overcome poverty and build a different future for their own children.
See the impacts of generational poverty and how you can help fight back.
Spiritual Poverty
While families living in poverty in Cambodia lack medical care, education and other essentials, their greatest need is spiritual: 98% of Cambodians don’t know Jesus. Living in spiritual poverty, these precious individuals are surviving without the hope of the gospel and the life-changing truth that they’re deeply loved by the heavenly Father.
The Impact
Those living in Cambodia today have experienced unimaginable suffering. And although they’re resilient, working to rise above the challenges of poverty and a painful past, no amount of perseverance can heal the deepest wounds of the heart.
True healing, restoration and lasting hope are found in Jesus. But without him, brokenness remains, passing pain and hopelessness from one generation to the next.
Changing a Generation by Caring for Moms & Babies
Cambodia’s newest generation holds the possibility of a hope-filled future. But they need love and care. Moms and their babies are some of the most vulnerable to the challenges of poverty, from dangerous malnutrition to a lack of healthcare. That’s why Compassion is focusing many of our efforts here first.
Through Compassion Nurturers, we deliver the critical support moms and babies need from pregnancy to birth and until the little one’s first birthday. Moms receive home visits, skilled care before, during and after birth, and training on caring for themselves and their new babies.
By caring for the youngest in Cambodia, we build a foundation that can shape an entire generation with love and hope.
Explore how we care for moms and babies in Cambodia and beyond.
Proof of Impact: Nisa Gains Confidence as a Young Mother in Cambodia
Young mother Nisa knows the realities of poverty in Cambodia firsthand. But her story is proof that love and care can truly change a life.
Nisa’s family struggled daily to put food on the table. As a teenager, Nisa dropped out of school to work. In 2023, Nisa, her father and her brother crossed into Thailand in search of employment. Soon, 17-year-old Nisa found herself carrying bags of sand and weighing cement with her bare hands for just 180,000 KHR ($45.00) a week.
On the same construction site, Nisa met her husband, Boromy. They worked together day to day, and despite the heavy work, they were happy. One day, Nisa felt weak and dizzy, symptoms that led to her take a pregnancy test — and it was positive.
For eight more weeks, Nisa worked until the construction site closed its doors in 2025. With nowhere else to go, Nisa and Boromy returned to Cambodia. Once home, Nisa felt she couldn’t leave. She was now three months pregnant, and the stares and harsh words about her age from those in the community were almost more than she could bear.
“I didn’t want to go out at all at that time. I felt ashamed.” — Nisa
For three months, Nisa hid in her home, ashamed and alone, until she met some kind neighbors who had been registered with Compassion’s program at the local church. She reluctantly accepted their invitation to join them at the church, where she found friendship among women much like herself, each carrying the same hopeful anticipation of a precious bundle to come.
Every two weeks, Nisa visited the church, where she talked with other moms and listened to staff teach lessons about baby care, nutritious cooking and the importance of rest. She also received regular ultrasounds to ensure her baby was growing, giving her peace of mind.
Her husband Boromy attended the program’s activities with Nisa, learning how to be a parent alongside her. With knowledge, newfound community, consistent care and the love of her doting husband, Nisa quickly found her confidence.
“I was shy before, but now I’m not, after learning from my teacher at the church about caring for young children. So, I’m no longer timid, and I’m ready to be a mother.” — Nisa
Nisa has since welcomed her beautiful baby girl, Chanvotey, into the world. And the love and care of her Compassion center hasn’t stopped. During labor and delivery, Nisa received the critical care she needed from skilled birth attendants. Even now, Nisa and little Chanvotey continue to receiving support as well as essential items like milk.
“They helped so much. They arranged for my wife’s ultrasounds, checked her health and provided essential items like milk and clothes for the baby. If it wasn’t for their support, I don’t know what we would’ve done, because we didn’t have the money to buy these things. I was happy to see my daughter’s face. Chanvotey is here with us. I am glad to be a father.” — Boromy
Nisa thanks the church for helping her not only gain confidence as a mother but also supporting her and Boromy in bringing Chanvotey into the world. She shares a simple hope for Chanvotey’s future: “I want to raise her to be a good person.”
While those living in poverty in Cambodia, like Nisa and Chanvotey, face many challenges, there’s hope. Through the love and care of the local church, children and their families can step out of poverty and into who God called them to be, transforming their nation one life at a time.
