New data from Argentina’s statistics agency shows the country’s poverty rate has skyrocketed to 53% after six months of far-right libertarian President Javier Milei’s austerity policies. That’s up 11% since 2023, as the number of people living in extreme poverty grew by 3 million during the first half of 2024. This is Irma Casal of Buenos Aires, one of the many people who say they’ve suffered under the new government’s economic shock therapy.

Irma Casal: “Since Milei’s government took office, our work has dropped. We work twice as much for less, and we have to continue. At my age, I’m not getting hired anywhere else, except maybe dragging a cart and nothing more. So I keep pushing forward.”