In March, a four member family needed at least AR$ 773,385 to live above the line of poverty and AR$ 358,049 not to be indigent, according to a report published today by the National Institute for Statistics and Census (INDEC, by its initials in Spanish).
The increase of the Total Basic Basket, which sets the line of poverty, was of a monthly 11,9% and 304,4% accumulated in the last twelve months, in both cases higher than inflation. Meanwhile, the increase of the Basic Food Basket, which sets the line of destitution, increased 10,9% in relation to February (slightly lower than the Price Consumer Index), but with a year-to-year increase of 308,2%.
The evolution of these two baskets reveals that, in March, basic food prices increased less than services, but in a year-to-year analysis, the situation is the opposite.
INDEC data are in line with the data published a few days ago by Buenos Aires City Hall’s Statistics and Census Directorate, which estimated a Basic Basket of AR$ 766,146 and a destitution basket of AR$ 442,238, with increases of 11,99% and 9,80%, respectively.
Both the INDEC report and the City Hall report don’t consider rent prices among their estimations.
The means needed to avoid falling under the poverty or destitution line are significantly superior than Argentina’s minimum wage of the same month (AR$ 202,800) and the minimum pension (AR$134,446 or 204,446 with a bonus).
Consequently, the minimum pension should be increased 166,31% to be sufficient in Buenos Aires City, and 475,24% to be above the line of poverty. In turn, the minimum wage should be increased 76,55% to cover destitution expenses and 281,35% to be above the line of poverty.