To do this, the consulting firm Focus Market took as a reference the monthly income of an average salary and the hours it would take to work to buy goods that one usually buys (alfajor, cigarette packs, coffee), products that are bought less frequently (combo hamburger, pair of slippers, cell phone), and also services such as a leisure and recreation outlet (cinema).
For example, If we buy a coffee to take to work every day, we must work more than 10 hours (more than 1 business day) to pay for it, earning an average salary of 113,214 pesos.
“The acceleration of inflation in Argentina in recent months, added to the devaluation of the peso against the dollar in the last month and a half in its parallel version in a context of import restrictions, has generated that to acquire certain goods in the economy, Argentines must dedicate more hours of work to be able to compensate for the loss of purchasing power of their income compared to the evolution of prices,” said Damián Di Pace, director of the consultancy firm Focus Market.
Another example: if we eat a hamburger combo on the 4th Friday of the month, we must work more than 8 hours (more than 1 business day) to pay for it, earning an average wage.
public sector in a context of fiscal deficit and increased public spending, wages have increased by 71.7% year-on-year above what has happened in the private sector with an average year-on-year increase in the registered salaried sector of 63%, according to the report.
“In many categories and items, such as the case of gastronomic services, textiles, footwear and information technology, the year-on-year increases have been in the range of between 85% and 95% year-on-year. There are more hours of work to complete the acquisition of the same goods Di Pace said.
Can you work more hours?
On the other hand, if we decide to change the cell phone, we can see that we must work more than 237 hours (almost 30 business days) to pay for it, earning an average salary.
In an economy like Argentina, where 4 out of 10 workers are informal, the acceleration of inflation is hurting them much more intensely.
In this sense, the unregistered private sector had a year-on-year variation of 52.8%, almost 15 below year-on-year inflation as of July 2022, the report warns.
“In these cases, not even by increasing their working hours can they access the same basket of goods, for which there is a precarious quality of life and in many cases breaking the poverty line,” said Di Pace.
“The income, in these cases, cannot be measured by number of hours but by managing survival resources to maintain their basic food basket,” concluded the manager.
Source: Ambito
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
