The poverty indicator in Argentina reached 55.5% of the population in the first quarter of 2024 and indigence went from 9.6% to 17.5% in the same period, according to estimates from the Observatory of the Argentine Social Debt of the Argentine Catholic University (ODSA-UCA). According to that same survey, almost 25 million people (24.9 million, residents in urban areas of the country) would have been in poverty below the total basic basket (CBT).
These increases are largely attributed to the impact of inflation in recent months and the increase mainly in the food sector that affected the lowest strata of society. The same study assures that some 7.8 million people are in a state of extreme poverty or destitution, below the basic food basket (CBA). In the third quarter of 2023 the poverty indicator was 44.7%. The ODSA data for the first quarter of this year is obtained through micro simulations.
“Total food insecurity for urban areas surveyed by the ODSA-UCA survey reaches 24.7% of people, 20.8% of households and 32.2% of children and adolescents. On the other hand, 10.9% of people, 8.8% of households and 13.9% of children and adolescents (NNyA) are in an even more serious situation, with severe food insecurity. . When considering the AMBA, the total food insecurity values are located at 26.4% of people, 21.8% of households and 35% of children and adolescents. When considering severe food insecurity, they are at 9.9%, 12.7% and 16.5%, respectively,” states the report titled “Structural social debts in Argentine society.”
The 20.6% of households that suffer from total food insufficiency are around 3.7 million homes that house around 11 million inhabitants.
The Observatory indicates that “the high levels of food deprivation suffered by the population try to be compensated with actions carried out at different levels of the State. Considering children and adolescents, 42.6% of them reside in homes that receive the AUH+Food Card, 50% attend school cafeterias, 36.7% receive boxes or bags of food from cafeterias and the 11.1% receive boxes or bags of food from non-school cafeterias; adding many homes to more than one benefit.” One of the measures that Javier Milei’s government adopted in his administration was to reinforce the amount of the AUH.
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