Poverty and inequality, a growing reality

In recent days, data on poverty has been released saying that poverty has declined, which has drawn widespread praise from those in government today. For those who suffer and live in poverty, this was a great surprise, because to hear that what did not fail them decreased, but others overcame it, is a hope, albeit a weak one. It is therefore worth considering now how the extent of poverty is measured and what effects it has, what consequences it brings and how it can be mitigated. The technical method of measuring poverty levels is based on the ability of families to meet their basic needs, which is determined based on a food basket and some other inputs considered essential. This is a measure based on the economic ability to purchase or access these foods and supplies and which depends on the cost and its fluctuation according to fluctuations in price and supply. The UCA Social Debt Observatory presented its latest results this week, which include numerous considerations on the methodology used and also whether other aspects and elements are included in addition to these economic aspects and elements. On Sunday, Agustín Salvia referred to this methodology in the Politics section of PERFIL. And he explains that valuation is relative only in economic terms to the ability to buy food, since people’s social and cultural situations determine the value of this and other deprivations. He added: “Poverty has different conceptual theoretical definitions and is also relative to the historical, moral and cultural time of society.” In doing so, he relativized the concept of poverty of various families, which contrasts with the rigidity of the quantifiable value of how much they can buy with their income.

Inequality is another problem, and it looks at the different conditions of people and families compared to their ability to obtain benefits that do not depend solely on economic factors. Inequality exists in non-poor sectors, that is, those who do not live below the poverty line but cannot achieve their goals. Inequality is expressed in the gap in the distribution of wealth. To the extent that a small group concentrates a significant portion of the wealth, while a large number of citizens share a minimal portion of the wealth. This gap continues to grow, not only in our country, but in our country we have started from a more unequal situation than in others, which is why it is so serious. The Social Debt Observatory has created a socio-economic pyramid, which was reproduced in the article by Jorge Fontevecchia in the article “Argentina in Transition” in PERFIL last Sunday. It visualizes the inequality based on the monthly income level of households in October 2025: only 3% have an income of 30 million pesos per month as a lower limit, while the 10% of the extremely poor earn an upper limit of 800,000 pesos per month. This represents a difference of 37.5 times the lower limit of what the 3% of the rich earn compared to the upper limit of what the 10% of the poor earn. This gap explains inequality in economic terms. 70% of the population is divided into 40% of the “aspiring middle” and “at risk lower middle” income groups and 30% of the poor and needy. What does that mean? The fact that 40% of the average income is not able to consume what they want creates financial tensions that express their dissatisfaction with this limitation and that they do not take comfort in being able to cover the basic food basket. This is what those who had the ability to consume in the middle class a few years ago can no longer experience. It is this financial tension that keeps them dissatisfied and therefore perceived as poor, although they are not taken into account because according to the poverty classification they exceed the purchasing power of the basic basket. Therein lie the social and historical differences that distinguish different conceptions of poverty. This makes them feel “poor,” a perception that is not reflected in poverty statistics measured in traditional ways. This is what really matters to society, much more important than the poverty index values. Hence the difference between what the government and some people are celebrating and what the vast majority of the population is experiencing. Those in power must consider this if they want to continue to have their voice.

For the government, they need to address the fight against inequality at both national and provincial levels, which requires much more than just improving income, although while these are linked, they are not linear. To reduce inequality, the government must improve the quality of public education, public healthcare, access to decent housing, decent work and social security protection – all important and fundamental second-generation human rights to promote equality between the richest and middle-income. This is what society expects once inflation stabilizes. However, this does not appear to be the government’s central aim. The opposition cannot fill this vacuum and until this happens, it will be difficult for citizens to have solid hope in any political sector. For this reason, society as a whole must address inequality as much or even more than poverty in order to create a better and fairer country.