MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Poverty on the rise in Argentina, Catholic University says

“Structural poverty in Argentina is not new,” Salvia explained

According to a study from the Argentine Catholic University (UCA) published during the weekend, poverty in the South American country has gone up from 44.7% to 57.4% of the population in little over two months since President Javier Milei took office.

 In practical terms, the research by the UCA's Social Observatory found that almost 27 million people would be below the poverty line and 7 million would be indigent after the devaluation and the inflationary spike triggered by the Milei administration.

The last report from the National Institute of Statistics and Census (Indec) dating back to the first semester of 2023 showed a 40.1% poverty rate. The UCA survey also detected that indigence went up from 9.6% in the third quarter of 2023 to 14.2% in December 2023 and to 15% in January 2024, and the poverty level rose from 44.7% in the third quarter of 2023 grew to 49.5% in December and 57.4% in January, the highest figure since series began in 2004 when it stood at 54%.

With no update to the overall minimum wage or unemployment benefits and meager adjustments among just a few trade unions, the country's economic activity has been on a downward patch under the Libertarian administration which, nevertheless, boasted it had achieved a zero deficit.

The UCA's Social Observatory is the largest private research center focused on this type studies. Its work is particularly useful in times when the Indec tends to show a biased behavior to conform to government guidelines.

Analysts agree that all these indexes will have worsened by the time the new study is released on March 27 because retirement and pension benefits have remained unchanged amid a drop in employment levels coupled with sharp increases in transport fares that render daily work nearly unprofitable.

The study also pointed out that those living in households benefiting from social aid plans presented a poverty level of 76.5% in the third quarter of 2023, 81.9% in December 2023, and 85.5% in January 2024.

“Structural poverty in Argentina is not new and it is to be expected that it will worsen, as well as that February will be more complicated,” UCA's Social Observatory Director Agustín Salvia told TN. “The situation is complicated and serious. It is not a new phenomenon, but a problem that has been accumulating,” he added. Salvia also pointed out that the increase in both social variables is the product of a “constant process of inflation, the beginning of an economic recession and without significant salary adjustments.” He also forecasted that this percentage of poverty “will be very difficult” to reverse in the short term but hoped it could be achieved once monthly inflation reached one digit.