A report from the UCA confirmed a significant drop in child poverty and indigence, with levels that fall to the lows of recent years.
These data reflect a change in trend after decades of deterioration. The historical series shows that child poverty had reached critical peaks in recent years of Kirchner administration, with values close to 64-65% during 2020-2021 and a maximum of 62.9% in 2023, during the change of government. From there, a phase of sustained descent begins
Child poverty in Argentina fell significantly again in 2025 and shows a sustained reduction since 2023, with a marked improvement in social indicators since the inauguration of President Javier Milei, after the serious crisis inherited from Kirchnerism
.According to the Argentine Social Debt Survey (EDSA) of the Catholic University of Argentina (UCA), the levels of poverty and indigence among children and adolescents have fallen sharply in the last two years.
The most relevant fact is that child poverty went from 62.9% in 2023 to 59.7% in 2024, and fell again to 53.6% in 2025, consolidating a downward trend. This last record represents the lowest level since 2018, when it stood at 51.7%
.
In parallel, child indigence also showed a marked improvement. After reaching 17.7% in 2024, the indicator fell to 10.7% in 2025, implying a sharp decline and positioning it as the lowest level since 2017 (
The UCA report points out that the figure for 2025 “brings relief”, in a context where for more than a decade child poverty showed an increasing trend, with strong increases in periods of crisis.
Regarding indigence, behavior also confirms recent improvement. After a sustained increase from levels close to 8% in 2011-2012 to a peak of 17.7% in 2024, the decline to 10.7% in 2025 marks a significant recovery in the most critical conditions
.At the same time, the report details that food assistance reached 64.8% of children, the highest value in the series, while the coverage of transfers such as the Universal Child Allowance reached 42.5%, focusing on the most vulnerable sectors.
In this scenario, the data show a great improvement in social indicators linked to children, with a sustained drop in poverty and a sharp reduction in indigence since 2023, in a context of economic recovery thanks to the reforms of the Government of Javier Milei.
