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Guatemala

World bank, 2014
Poverty headcount ratio at $6.85 a day (2017 PPP) (% of population)
55%
Population below international poverty line

Different legal minimum wages in the agricultural, non-agricultural and garment sectors.

variable
National minimum wage

Equivalent to 3,323.60 Guatemalan Quezals per worker per month.
WageIndicator Foundation, 2023

398
per month
Agriculture minimum wage

Equivalent to 3,374 Guatemalen quetzals per worker per month. 
Global Living Wage Coalition, 2022

 

385
per month
Rural living wage
World bank, 2019
Employment in agriculture (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate)
31%
Agricultural workforce
World bank, 2021
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (% of GDP)
10%
Agriculture share of GDP

ITUC Global Rights Index, 2022
No guarantee of rights

5
very high
Risk to workers' rights

Context

The population of Guatemala is just below 17 million people,[1] with an almost equal distribution of rural (49%)[2] and urban (51%)[3] populations. Just under one third of the population (31.5%)[4] is employed by the agricultural sector, a sector that makes up 10% of the nation’s GDP.[5]

Nearly 82% of agricultural holdings are in the hands of smallholder farmers, however they only occupy one sixth of Guatemala’s arable land, with most of the land owned by large cash crop farms. In Guatemala, the average smallholder farm is 0.6 hectares, from which a large percentage of Guatemala’s small family farms are unable to support themselves financially.[6] It is estimated that around 75% of smallholder farmers live below the national poverty line. The average smallholder farmer has to supplement 40% of their income with off-farm employment. In addition, agriculture in Guatemala is male-dominated with the vast majority (85%) of the small family farms headed by men. [7]

The top produced crops in Guatemala are sugar cane, bananas, palm oil fruit, maize and melons.[8] Guatemala’s top export commodities in terms of quantity are bananas, raw sugar, refined sugar, palm oil and molasses.[9]

Footnotes
  1. ^ World Bank (2020). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=GT
  2. ^ World Bank. (2020). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.RUR.TOTL.ZS?locations=GT
  3. ^ World Bank. (2020). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS?locations=GT
  4. ^ World Bank. (2019). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.AGR.EMPL.ZS?locations=GT
  5. ^ World Bank. (2020). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NV.AGR.TOTL.ZS?locations=GT
  6. ^ FAO (2018). http://www.fao.org/3/I8357EN/i8357en.pdf
  7. ^ FAO (2018). Small Family Farms Country Factsheet: Guatemala. http://www.fao.org/3/I8357EN/i8357en.pdf
  8. ^ FAOSTAT (2020).  http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#rankings/commodities_by_country 
  9. ^ FAOSTAT (2020). http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#rankings/commodities_by_country_exports

Wages

Minimum wage

The Government of Guatemala has established independent, legal minimum wages in the agricultural, non-agricultural and garment sectors. As of January 2023, the agricultural minimum wage was set at 3,323.60 Guatemalan Quetzals (397 EUR) per month.[1] The Ministry of Labour has attempted to monitor compliance with minimum wages, however they often lack the resources to enforce such laws, especially within agricultural and informal sectors, where noncompliance is widespread.[2] Many employers in the agricultural sector make minimum wage payments conditional on excessive production quotas. In many cases this forces workers to work beyond the maximum hours allowed by law and therefore encourages workers to engage family members, including children, in work tasks.[3]

Living wage

The estimated living wage for the central rural areas of Guatemala is 3,374 Guatemalan Quetzals (385 EUR) per month. This calculation is based on a family of 5, with 1.53 workers, as of September 2019.[4] The living wage benchmark authored by the Global Living Wage Coalition focuses on agricultural livelihoods, and specifically provides context within the coffee sector, as the rural areas of Guatemala’s Central Departments provide almost half of Guatemala's total coffee production. Although Guatemala’s legal minimum wage for agricultural work is similar to the estimated living wage for agricultural workers, it is common for agricultural workers to be paid based on the quantity they harvest, which often results in most workers earning less than the legal minimum wage.[5]

Footnotes
  1. ^ WageIndicator Foundation. (2023). https://wageindicator.org/salary/minimum-wage/guatemala
  2. ^ US Department of State. (2019). https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/guatemala/
  3. ^ US Department of State. (2019). https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/guatemala/
  4. ^ Global Living Wage Coalition. (2022). https://www.globallivingwage.org/living-wage-benchmarks/rural-guatemala/
  5. ^ Global Living Wage Coalition. (2019). https://www.globallivingwage.org/living-wage-benchmarks/rural-guatemala/

What's happening

resource

Living Wage Update, Rural Guatemala

Updates in the living wage estimate for Central Valley Area in Guatemala with a focus on the coffee sector. Global Living Wage Coalition.

initiative

Women in Sustainable Coffee Cultivation

Project focussing on gender inclusiveness and women’s empowerment to raise incomes and productivity in a Guatemalan coffee cooperative. Rainforest Alliance, 2018.

resource

Living Wage Benchmark, Rural Guatemala

Living wage estimate for Central Valley Area in Guatemala with a focus on the coffee sector. Global Living Wage Coalition, 2019.

  

initiative

Banana Link & SITRABI

Project with a banana workers union in Guatemala to empower banana plantation workers, improve working conditions and set decent wages.

resource

Tracking living and minimum wages in the banana sector

A report commissioned by the World Banana Forum in May 2015 with information for 9 banana producing countries.

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