If Minimum Wage Increases, Poverty Will Decrease by 9.1 Percent

Increasing the minimum wage from 55,000 drams to 68,000 drams will result in a 1.2 percent decrease in poverty in Armenia.

However, this will be the direct result of the increase, while possible indirect effects could reduce poverty by up to 9.1 percent. This was stated by Arman Udumyan, the Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, during a session at the National Assembly.

He explained that international experience shows that after minimum wage increases, there are pressures in the economy, and the wages of other workers also rise. According to the deputy minister, this is true in about 50 percent of cases.

Therefore, he insisted that as a result of this chain reaction of wage increases, poverty will indeed decrease by 9.1 percent.