Milei's recipe doesn't work: Argentinians have to have two jobs to make ends meet

Javier Milei is going through one of the most thorny moments of his almost two and a half years at the head of the Argentine government. After applying a brutal austerity plan, with the aim of balancing public accounts and reversing the country's fiscal deficit, the economy is not quite picking up, unlike what he had promised, or at least it is not translating into the pockets of the country's social majorities. Consumption continues to be depressed, especially in daily expenses, with inflation that is not easing – March's was 3.4% monthly – and amidst increasingly visible job precarity, which forces the population to have two or more jobs to make ends meet. Added to this is the fact that the judiciary is investigating the chief of staff, Manuel Adorni, for alleged illicit enrichment. Despite this outlook, Milei aims to be re-elected in the presidential elections scheduled for next year: "I will run," he declared this week on the radio program Argendata. "Not only will I finish this term, but I will also run as a candidate for another if I believe I have done things well," he insisted.Multiple employment

“Pluri-occupation is beginning to be massive and generalized”, assures the sociologist Julia Campos to ARA, coordinator of the Union Observatory of Gender and Work of the Association of State Workers (ATE). “The time dedicated to work is increasingly encroaching on all the hours of the day. Nevertheless, there is no double or triple shift that manages to cover life’s needs”, she declares. In the public sector, for example, teachers work in more than one school, and doctors combine their working day in a public hospital with multiple on-call duties or overtime in a private clinic. As for the private sector, online sales and the offer of services through applications like Uber have become widespread. The sociologist also highlights that most households are in debt. "We are working to pay off debts", often informally and with usurious intermediaries, she assures. And the worst part, she continues explaining, is that the workers' response is not forceful "because there is fear of losing their jobs and because organizing requires time and mobilization, and people are exhausted".There are also voices that are optimistic: the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Argentina's main lender and in good tune with Milei's government, forecasts 3.5% economic growth for the country this year, and up to 4% for 2027, which will be an election year. However, the same IMF calculates an interannual inflation of more than 30% for this 2026, a figure ten points above the last projection. Despite this, economist Ramiro Castiñeira states: “it is expected that next year Argentina will enter into a genuine growth dynamic, and no longer just for exports, but also for investments”. After the modification of the glaciers law, the mining sector has investments – which according to the government have already been approved – of more than 30,000 million dollars. Castiñeira believes that “the great effort that Argentina is making to balance public accounts” is consolidated as a sign of confidence and predictability for foreign investors.Loss of popularity

However, polls speak of a significant drop in the president's popularity: 57% of the population disapproves of his management. Regarding voting intention, there is indecision and fragmentation, which would mean that there would be no majority. If the elections were held today, La Llibertat Avança (LLA) would obtain 29.4% of the votes; Peronism, 25.4%; PRO or traditional right, 7.3%, and the left, 6.5%. In addition, there would be more than 5% of blank or null votes, 17.7% undecided, and 8.4% abstention. Analyst Gabriel Vommaro highlights that there is “still time” before the elections, scheduled for October 2027, but acknowledges that, “if the government manages to close this year with declining inflation and continues to capitalize on the idea of macroeconomic order, it remains a very competitive government for reelection.” Vommaro assures that there is still a frontal rejection of Peronism and Kirchnerism, which are mostly perceived as “the causes of the evil that Milei came to repair.” Furthermore, within Peronism itself there is a strong internal conflict, with two main feuding factions: one, led by former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, under house arrest and convicted of corruption; and the other, by the governor of the province of Buenos Aires, Axel Kicillof, who appears to be a capable rival to confront Milei at the polls in 2027.What cannot be shaken off Milei and is conditioning his public image are the cases of alleged corruption that are accumulating in the hard core of his government. Besides the $Libra crypto-scam and the bribes in the disability sector managed by his sister, Karina Milei, who is now in the spotlight is the chief of staff, Manuel Adorni, investigated for unjust enrichment: justice is investigating inconsistencies in his declared assets, which involve properties and trips. In this context, and after two journalists filmed some corridors inside the Casa Rosada without permission, Milei has decided to report the informants criminally and to ban all press access to the government headquarters. This was announced on Thursday by the deputy spokesperson, Javier Lanari, alleging a matter of "national security." The validity of the measure, which has provoked strong criticism and is unprecedented in more than forty years of democracy in Argentina, is unknown.