It doesn't reach 300,000 pesos: the minimum wage in the Javier Milei era continues to lose purchasing power.

On the eve of a new meeting of the Minimum Living Wage Council ( SMVM ), the numbers show a stark reality: the minimum wage in Argentina , governed by Javier Milei, is historically low and no longer meets any of the legally mandated targets. A new value for the SMVM and unemployment benefits will be set tomorrow, but expectations are low amid a scenario of sustained losses due to inflation.

With the State and employers' majority on the Council, the decision could ratify the government's wage policy, which—according to the agreement with the IMF—allows for increases of less than 1% per month. In practice, this means that the minimum wage will continue to lag behind rising prices, further weakening its purchasing power.

The last increase in the SMVM (Minimum Wage) was implemented in March: it went from $279,718 in December 2024 to $296,832, a 6.12% increase that was far behind the 8.6% inflation rate for the first quarter of 2025. In those three months alone, the minimum wage lost 2.2% of its real value, adding to a 17.7% drop in 2024, the largest recorded in recent decades.

The deterioration is even more evident when compared from end to end: between December 2023 and December 2024, the minimum wage increased by 79.3%, far below the official inflation rate of 117.8%. Furthermore, its increase fell below the increase in the basic food basket, which measures the poverty line, condemning more workers to precarious living conditions.

It's in Javier Milei's interest to keep the minimum wage as low as possible because many other factors depend on it, and if it were to rise, it would force the state to spend more money. For example, unemployment benefits (what someone who loses their job receives) should be 75% of their highest recent salary. But there's a ceiling: it can't be more than 100% of the minimum wage. So, if the minimum wage is lower, unemployment benefits also remain low, even if the person had a higher salary.

The 82% mobile pension for retirees : Those who retired with all their years of contributions should receive 82% of the minimum wage. Therefore, if the minimum wage were to rise sharply, the national government would have to pay higher pensions for this group. Since the minimum wage increases only slightly, this increase is not activated, and the government saves those payments.

Lowest wages : Although not all workers are directly "hooked" to the minimum wage, it serves as a benchmark for informal or unregistered workers. If the minimum wage rises, so do expectations and demands for increases across the entire wage base.

Therefore, keeping the minimum wage "at a minimum" helps the government save money on social benefits (such as unemployment and pensions) and curb demands for increases from the poorest sectors , even if this means that more and more workers and retirees end up far below the real cost of living.

Furthermore, since the minimum wage is so low that it is already worse than during the convertibility years , the tool that should ensure a decent standard of living is no longer suitable for what it was created for.