The Indec report published this Wednesday shows that the increase in October in the basic food basket (CBA) and the total basic basket (CBT) was 3.1% compared to September. Being an increase above inflation, which was 2.3%, it indicates that the increase in prices is affecting vulnerable sectors the most.
Although food on average was at the same level as inflation, the rise in some of the most consumed foods produced the jump in the CBA. Bread, for example, increased by almost 5% and onions by more than 20%. For those families who barely have enough income to eat, the consequences are serious.
The CBT, which determines the poverty threshold, reached $1,276,649 for a typical household of four members in Greater Buenos Aires. Meanwhile, the CBA, which marks the limit of indigence, stood at $572,488 pesos. Figures that are very difficult to reach for millions of families who suffer from unemployment, job insecurity and frozen salaries.
In October inflation, the growth in transportation (3.5%) and services such as electricity, gas, etc. (2.8%) draws attention. This is due to the deregulation applied by the national government that allows privatized companies to raise their rates to levels rarely seen in recent decades.
Poverty, according to Indec, was 31.6% in the first half of 2025, while the number of people below the indigence line was 6.9%. The situation is more serious for children, poverty affects 45.4% of people aged 14 or younger, there are almost 5 million throughout the country. The data imply similar levels to those of Macrismo in 2018, and reflect a part of the reality experienced by the working majorities who do not make ends meet and must increasingly go into debt.
Poverty skyrocketed to more than 50% last year after the brutal devaluation carried out by the Milei government at the beginning of its administration in December 2023, which made prices jump even more, liquefied salaries and pensions, along with an adjustment plan that included layoffs and tax cuts. Although inflation subsequently slowed, income did not recover at the same speed and still today shows very serious losses in purchasing power. A crystallization and deepening of the adjustment promoted by Macri and not reversed in the Fernández government.
In retirements, Milei froze the bonus at the minimum at $70,000, consolidating serious losses for retirees. Due to low salaries and the deterioration of living conditions, more than a million older adults work white or black; In ten years the number of working retirees increased almost 60%. This, added to the adjustment on workers who depend on the State and the freezing of joint ventures for the private sector, make up the low incomes of the vast majority.
With the policies of the national government, the living conditions of the population will not be able to improve. Milei and Caputo intend to approve a labor reform that would take away the rights of millions of workers, while maintaining a precarious economic balance based on borrowing from the United States that can only bring greater problems in the future. It is urgent to restore the income of workers, retirees and their families to prevent poverty and destitution from growing again. Along with declaring the sovereign ignorance of the fraudulent foreign debt in order to allocate resources based on the needs of the vast majority.
Source: www.laizquierdadiario.com
