A couple aged 74 or younger renting a home needed $1,932,067 to cover their monthly expenses in October. For this month, the minimum balance was $326,304 and in December it reached $340,879. Not taking into account the bonus, which has been frozen at $70,000 since March 2024, the couple would need to earn six such incomes to survive: if you add the extra, it would be almost five. The figure comes from the consumer basket for older adults created by the Buenos Aires City Ombudsman’s Office.
The study divides households into six categories. The first consists of a couple of retirement age, up to 74 years old, with their own home: this household would require $1,278,026. If two minimum incomes are added, it is not enough: if the bonus is taken into account, you would hardly need more than one additional minimum income.
The second household consists of a couple aged up to 74 who have their own, prepaid home. To maintain it would require $2,317,270. The third level is the one mentioned above (a retired couple under the age of 75 who are tenants). The fourth household is a single person: a woman over 75 years old with her own home who needed $704,600, almost double a minimum pension in December including the bonus.
If the same person had their own prepaid home (household five), they would need $1,224,222. A woman over 75 years old who needs to rent $1,185,020: three basic incomes, including the supplementary income.
The baskets that make up the total measure the cost of food, basic household goods and services, health, and personal goods and services. “The food basket is defined on the basis of our own estimate, which takes into account the calorie needs and the ratio between proteins, fats and carbohydrates that the diet of this population group must cover,” clarifies the Ombudsman’s Office. It is divided into dairy products, meat and by-products, grains and baked goods, sugar and sweets, oils and beverages, among others. Basic home services include rent (if applicable), expenses, gas, electricity, water, communications and transportation. In the health sector, medical, therapeutic and insurance products and services are counted (depending on the type of apartment, if applicable).
The shopping basket of goods and services for home maintenance includes durable goods for home furnishings and cleaning products. Personal goods and services also include an estimate of possible minor expenses for clothing and entertainment.
In addition to the senior citizens’ basket, the ombudsman’s office has also launched the drug price index (MPI). On average, the costs of the 99 products examined rose by 1.7% in October and by 6.4% since July. “There were two components that experienced an above-average increase: psychotropic drugs with an average increase of 2.4%, followed by antibiotics and antiseptics with 2.2%. These two types of drugs also showed a higher cumulative variation,” they concluded.
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