An aqueous coating composition comprising: (A) an emulsion polymer comprising, based on the dry weight of the emulsion polymer, structural units of a polymerizable surfactant having the structure of formula (I), wherein R 1 is a phenyl group or a phenyl substituted alkyl group; m1 is 1, 2, 3 or 4; R 2 is an alkyl or a substituted alkyl; m2 is 0 or 1; R 3 is hydrogen or a C 1 -C 20 alkyl group; R 4 is hydrogen or a C 1 -C 20 alkyl group; A represents an alkylene group or a substituted alkylene group, having 2 to 4 carbon atoms; n is an integer in the range of from 1 to 100; and X represents hydrogen or an anionic hydrophilic group selected from -(CH 2 ) a -SO 3 M, -(CH 2 ) b -COOM, -PO 3 M 2 , -P(Z)O 2 M, or -CO-CH 2 -CH(SO 3 M)-COOM, wherein a and b are each independently an integer of from 0 to 4, Z represents a residual obtained by removing X from the general formula (I), and each M represents hydrogen, an alkali metal atom, an alkaline earth metal atom, an ammonium residue, or an alkanolamine residue; (B) a wax emulsion in an amount of from 1.1% to 20% by solids weight, based on the dry weight of the emulsion polymer; and (C) a pigment; wherein the aqueous coating composition has a pigment volume concentration of from 56% to 70%. (A) an emulsion polymer comprising, based on the dry weight of the emulsion polymer, structural units of a polymerizable surfactant having the structure of formula (I), wherein R 1 is a phenyl group or a phenyl substituted alkyl group; m1 is 1, 2, 3 or 4; R 2 is an alkyl or a substituted alkyl; m2 is 0 or 1; R 3 is hydrogen or a C 1 -C 20 alkyl group; R 4 is hydrogen or a C 1 -C 20 alkyl group; A represents an alkylene group or a substituted alkylene group, having 2 to 4 carbon atoms; n is an integer in the range of from 1 to 100; and X represents hydrogen or an anionic hydrophilic group selected from -(CH 2 ) a -SO 3 M, -(CH 2 ) b -COOM, -PO 3 M 2 , -P(Z)O 2 M, or -CO-CH 2 -CH(SO 3 M)-COOM, wherein a and b are each independently an integer of from 0 to 4, Z represents a residual obtained by removing X from the general formula (I), and each M represents hydrogen, an alkali metal atom, an alkaline earth metal atom, an ammonium residue, or an alkanolamine residue; structural units of a polymerizable surfactant having the structure of formula (I), wherein R 1 is a phenyl group or a phenyl substituted alkyl group; m1 is 1, 2, 3 or 4; R 2 is an alkyl or a substituted alkyl; m2 is 0 or 1; R 3 is hydrogen or a C 1 -C 20 alkyl group; R 4 is hydrogen or a C 1 -C 20 alkyl group; A represents an alkylene group or a substituted alkylene group, having 2 to 4 carbon atoms; n is an integer in the range of from 1 to 100; and X represents hydrogen or an anionic hydrophilic group selected from -(CH 2 ) a -SO 3 M, -(CH 2 ) b -COOM, -PO 3 M 2 , -P(Z)O 2 M, or -CO-CH 2 -CH(SO 3 M)-COOM, wherein a and b are each independently an integer of from 0 to 4, Z represents a residual obtained by removing X from the general formula (I), and each M represents hydrogen, an alkali metal atom, an alkaline earth metal atom, an ammonium residue, or an alkanolamine residue; (B) a wax emulsion in an amount of from 1.1% to 20% by solids weight, based on the dry weight of the emulsion polymer; and (C) a pigment; <EOS>