He poverty rate growth was stopped, but the living conditions of Argentines continue to deteriorate sharply. A survey of Argentine Social Debt Observatory (ODSA-UCA) showed that they were cut expenses on medical care, purchase of medicines and utilities.
Poverty was located in the 49.9% during the third quarter of 2024, while the indigence was positioned in the 12.9%as measured by ODSA-UCA. It also estimates, based on data from the EPH-INDEC, that it would have dropped to 44.6%, towards the end of last October.
Beyond the slowdown in inflation, the rate of unemployment is estimated at 8.9%, remaining almost stable in 2024 compared to the previous year, when it was located in 8.8%. Specifically, in 2024 full employment decreased compared to the previous year, since it went from 40.4% to 39.7%, and the precarious work increasedsince jumped from 26.5% in 2023 to 27.8% this year.
How does poverty and the increase in precarious jobs impact households?
The survey of the ODSA-UCA shows that the 31% of households surveyed cut spending on healthcare; he 29.4%, in the purchase of medicines; he 27.1% admitted that they could not pay any of the public services such as gas, electricity and water, and 29.9% did not pay any fee or tax. All of these indicators worsened between two and six percentage points in comparison with the same period in 2023.
Between December 2023 and September 2024, the service fee water increased by 271%while that of the light did it a 156%, he gas 898% and the transportation 601%as reported Tariffs and Subsidies Observatory of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) and Conicet. In this way, it is understood that some of the services cannot be paid for.
The medications, For their part, they increased 161% year-on-year in it Buenos Aires metropolitan area (AMBA) in the face of inflation 166% year-on-year. The prepaid they climbed up 250.6% year-on-year in this region, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC).
The food insecurity It is another indicator that showed a decline in Argentina. One in four households does not have all daily meals assured in 2024, while the proportion was one in five in 2023. Even “severe food insecurity” record 12.5% this year, while last it was 11.8%.
Taking all these variables into account, the UCA processed its multidimensional poverty indexwhich considers other basic needs, in addition to income. In 2024 this indicator rose to 41.6%.
Social assistance: how did it contribute to poverty?
In Argentina, without the Universal Child Allowance (AUH) or other official economic support programs, it is projected that poverty could have increased by 5.5 percentage points more. In fact, in 2024 the proportion of households assisted by 36.3%, compared to a 35.9% in 2023.
Children continue to be the population most affected by poverty; in 2024, it is estimated that 65.5% of children between 0 and 17 years of age resided in households with incomes below the total Basic Basket (of these, 19% They were poor destitute).
Source: Ambito
