Poverty decreases thanks to the growth of informal work

Due to the increase in activity and the recovery of employment, in particular among informal workers – that is salaried without pension reductions and self-employed without contributions to social security – in the first quarter of this year both destitution and poverty were reduced.

Extreme poverty or extreme poverty has dropped from 11.2% to 8.2% and poverty, which it had reached a year ago 39.5%, down to 34.2%, going back to pre-pandemic levels.

The data are derived from the microdata of the Permanent Survey on Families (EPH) released by INDEC.

nationwide the poor are 15.8 million compared to 18.1 million in the first quarter of 2021. Of these totals, the poor amounted to 3.8 million against 5.1 million a year ago.

Between Boys under 14, poverty dropped from 53.6% to 47.1%.

In the city of Buenos Aires, where the Department of Statistics of Buenos Aires had released the data for the first quarter of weeks ago, poverty fell from 9.4% to 5.9%, while poverty fell from 26.5%. % to 20.3%.

Despite the peak in inflation, the year-over-year decline in poverty and destitution is explained, in particular, by higher activity and rising employment, especially among informal employees.

INDEC had reported that the vacancy rate in the first quarter of this year it had dropped to 7%: it is 3.2 points, compared to 10.2% in the first quarter of 2021.

For example, unemployment in Greater Buenos Aires fell from 680,000 to 460,000 people.

Meanwhile, the employment rate went from 41.6 to 43.3%, for a total of about 20.4 million employedabout 950,000 more compared to the beginning of last year.

With these data, the level of employment exceeds that of the years preceding the pandemic and the recession and is the higher percentage for a first quarter in the new statistical series starting in 2016. Meanwhile, 7% unemployment is the lowest in the same statistical series.

A significant part (80%) of this increase in employment in the last year occurred among informal employees (“without pension discount”), who thus returned to the levels of early 2020, after the sharp decline due to the loss directly from their occupations during the critical months of quarantine and pandemic.

This increase in activity and the employment rate means this more people went out looking for work recover what is lost and strengthen household income in response to the long quarantine period, the trigger of inflation and falling wages.

For the second quarter, this decline in poverty and destitution is expected to continue due to the $ 18,000 bonds made to retirees, retirees and vulnerable sectors.

INDEC will publish the first half report of these key indicators on September 28

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