AMERICA/ARGENTINA - Significant increase in poverty, there is solidarity but state policies are urgent

Wednesday, 17 July 2019 poverty social situation local churches

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Buenos Aires (Agenzia Fides) - In 2018 there was a significant increase in multidimensional poverty in Argentina in a context of high inflation and economic stagnation: 33.6% of Argentines appear to be below the poverty line. According to data from the Argentine Social Debt Survey (EDSA), in the third term of 2018, 4.2% of families and 6.1% of people were very poor. In the same period, 25.6% of families and 33.6% of people were below the poverty line. The results obtained show an interruption of the trend towards the recomposition of the economic conditions of families that had been highlighted during 2017.
These are some indicators of the social situation in the report entitled "Monetary poverty and vulnerability of rights. Inequalities in the material living conditions of families in urban Argentina (2010-2018)", presented by the Observatory on social debt of the Catholic University of Argentina (ODSA UCA), together with the Ombudsman of the Nation, La Nación Foundation, Galicia Bank and the Ombudsman of the Province of Buenos Aires. The study, according to the note sent to Agenzia Fides, intends to show the evolution of poverty in the country with a multidimensional approach.
If the poverty level affected 3 out of 10 people, that percentage rose to almost 5 out of 10 people among those under the age of 17. Children and adolescents were the most affected in terms of the evolution of poverty and poverty rates. On the other hand, 62% of families presented at least one lack of social and economic rights in 2018.
In a recent interview with Radio Maria, the vicar general of the Archdiocese of Rosario, Mgr. Emilio Cardarelli, stated that there was a "fairly significant increase" in the demand for food, estimated between 25 and 30 percent, according to the voluntary work in Christian communities, and this "is observed, in general, in the more humble neighborhoods, where the help of the parish Caritas is seen with greater effect". Mgr. Cardarelli asked for state policies that could reverse this social and economic situation, and invited the political class to dialogue in order to seek an agreement. "There is a lot of solidarity, but they are only palliative measures that do not solve the underlying problem", he pointed out, referring to the campaigns carried out to assist people living on the streets. (SL) (Agenzia Fides, 17/7/2019)