Almost six out of every ten children and adolescents in Argentina live in poverty and nearly a third do not have access to adequate food on a regular basis, according to the latest report from the Argentine Social Debt Observatory of the Argentine Catholic University (UCA), based on the Argentine Social Debt Survey (EDSA) corresponding to 2025. The survey, which is carried out periodically on the urban population, covers households from different socioeconomic strata and regions of the country, with special representation of large agglomerations such as the Buenos Aires suburbs, where the indicators show greater deterioration.
The study determined that child poverty reached 53.6% in 2025, while destitution was at 10.7%. In absolute terms, this implies that millions of minors live in households that cannot cover a basic basket or that do not directly have access to sufficient income for minimum subsistence. In turn, the report incorporates a multidimensional poverty measurement that not only considers income, but also deprivations in food, housing, health, education and access to basic services, which expands the diagnosis of the living conditions of children.
One of the most sensitive data of the survey is that referring to food insecurity. According to the UCA, 28.8% of children and adolescents experienced difficulties in eating adequately during 2025, and 13.2% went through severe situations, which in practice implies episodes of hunger. In aggregate terms, the report warns that “almost three out of ten” children do not eat regularly, a problem that is concentrated with greater intensity in lower-income households and in vulnerable urban areas, particularly in Greater Buenos Aires.
The survey also reveals other structural deprivations: deficits in health checks, difficulties in accessing health services and precarious housing conditions. These indicators are part of a matrix of persistent inequality that, according to researchers, conditions the physical, cognitive and educational development of the child population even in contexts where some macroeconomic indicators show partial improvements.
Regarding recent developments, the report notes that current levels represent a slight improvement over the peaks recorded in previous years. In 2023, child poverty had reached values close to 62.9%, while in 2024 it remained at similar levels, around 59.7%. The drop to 53.6% in 2025 marks a relevant decrease, although the UCA itself warns that it is a temporary relief and not a structural solution, given that the levels are still significantly higher than those recorded at the beginning of the series.
The historical comparison reinforces that reading. In 2010, child poverty affected 45.2% of minors, with a temporary decrease in 2011 and 2012—when it fell to values close to 35%-38%—followed by a sustained deterioration throughout the decade. Starting in 2018, the indicators increased almost uninterruptedly, with a significant jump during the pandemic and a subsequent stagnation at high levels.
In parallel, food insecurity also shows a worrying trend in the long term. While between 2010 and 2017 it remained around 20%, since 2018 it rose to close to a third of the child population, with peaks during the 2020 health crisis and levels that, even with recent improvements, failed to return to previous values.
The report concludes that Argentina maintains a hard core of structural child poverty. The persistence of deficits in food, health and living conditions, together with the strong territorial concentration of deprivation, configure a scenario in which statistical improvement is not enough to reverse the profound inequalities that affect children in the country.
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