The worrying situation that Argentina is experiencing: nearly 25 million people are below the poverty line

In a small neighborhood of Buenos Aires Argentina, called El Claro, Noelia, 38, and her three children arrive at a community kitchen called The brave little ones . Like almost every day, they queue to receive lunch. Today’s menu is a container with polenta and tomato sauce.

“Thank God we have this. “Sometimes it’s our only meal of the day.” said the Argentinian BBC World .

Just like her, there are more men, women and children lining up to receive their plate of food. María José Games, the founder of the dining room, believes that They help about 130 families, “and there are more on the waiting list, because we can’t keep up.”

The x-ray of what is happening in this community kitchen can be understood with figures: according to a recent report from the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (Indec) , Nearly 25 million people live below the poverty line in Argentina.

A study of UNICEF Argentina last August, also revealed that Every day, “in the countryside, a million girls and boys go to sleep without dinner.” And figures show that 66% of children under 14 are poor. This means 2 out of 3.

AND Those who can afford their daily meals cannot always choose the most nutritious ones.

For example, in many community kitchens, They cannot offer meat, vegetables or fruits every day.

This is the worrying situation Argentina is facing.

According to figures provided by IndecPoverty in Argentina took ‘huge leap’ in first six months since Javier Milei took office as president and has increased by more than 11 points since the second half of 2023.

Howeverindices were already on an upward trend in recent years, due to inflation and economic recession which has been hitting the country for more than a decade.

However, according to the analysis of BBC Worldthe numbers accelerated from 100% to over 200% in 2023 and in just three months prices increased by over 50%.

The Milei government blamed the sharp rise in inflation on the Kirchner administration’s public spending. during the last election campaign. However, also The devaluation of more than 50% of the value of the peso ordered by Milei is on the agenda.

Without forgetting the liberalization of prices and rates and the historic budgetary adjustment which reduced public spending by a third.

“We have prevented poverty from being much higher,” said Argentine Economy Minister Luis Caputo. in the news LN+ when asked if the government was responsible for this increase in poverty.

The big difference with the crisis of 2002, when poverty reached 65.6%, is that at that time there were also many Argentines unemployed (more than 21%).

But today, the unemployment rate stands at 7.6%.

In addition, There are now government aids or “social plans” which did not exist 20 years ago.

According to the BBC, The reason for poverty in Argentina is said to be the decline in the purchasing power of income not adjusted for inflation. This is why a new phenomenon has appeared in Argentina: There are workers, but they are poor.

In addition, 47% of workers in Argentina have informal employment, which also makes the problem worse.

From the Argentine government, the repeated response is that it seeks to reduce inflation at all costs. This is why his first plan was to reduce public spending to a level never seen in Argentina’s history.

But they also claimed to be looking for a way to encourage private employment and reduce public employment.

Furthermore, according to the report of the Ministry of Human Capital (which brings together the former Ministries of Labor, Education, Social Development and Culture), They have strengthened the three social benefits enjoyed by the most vulnerable people in the country: the universal child allowance (+374%), the food allowance (+138%) and the 1,000 Day Plan (+1,323%).

The government assured that These benefits would cover 97.9% of the basic food basket. And that’s true, but only if the family has a child.

“It’s not enough,” said Gisela, 31 and mother of five. BBC World. “They say: ‘you have help from the state’. Yes. But while helping you, they increase things for you.

And that’s it not only has the cost of food increased for the general liberalization of prices, but also basic electricity, gas, water and transport services.

Given this situationthe Argentine government assured that there was hope, since the second quarter saw an improvement in its figures compared to the first. As they made clear, this trend is expected to continue until everyone’s situation improves.

“To the extent that there is less inflation, there is more stability, which generates better economic expectations. Argentina is a country rich in opportunities, so a stable macroeconomic framework must be ensured and investments begin to arrive. And we are already seeing it,” said Economy Minister Caputo.

In addition, sent a message to the 25 million Argentines who live below the poverty line.

“To those who are going through difficult times today, I say to you to have more hope than ever, that the worst is over.” and today we can start showing results.

“A kilo of meat costs almost 10,000 pesos (about $10 or 9,400 Chilean pesos)” he said BBC World José Cuello, coordinator of the community kitchen called Un Lugarcito.

“I never remember in my life that one day of work was not enough to buy two kilos of Milanese.” And that’s it, per day you earn on average 15,000 Argentine pesos (around 14,000 Chilean pesos).

And not being able to eat properly would have disastrous consequences on the health of the Argentine population, particularly that of children.

According to pediatrician specializing in nutrition, Norma Piazzamore and more children are being hospitalized for neurological problems and seizures due to vitamin deficiency, such as B12.

“We see cases of scurvy, cases of eye injuries due to vitamin deficiencies. “These things existed in Central America, Africa, Asia, but we had never seen patients here with eye injuries from lack of vitamin A.” said the expert Reuters .