CNN
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Twice a week, Nilda Rivadeneira hops on her bicycle and pedals to work. She tells CNN she wishes it were a women’s bike instead of a men’s one, but she rides it now that her son, who no longer lives at home, stopped using it. In a way, it suits her, she says: being old and inconspicuous, she blends in, which helps her as she travels through unsafe areas.
Nilda works cleaning houses by the hour about two kilometers from her home in the northern part of Buenos Aires province, and by biking she saves on transportation costs. Between that job, another one that she goes to twice a week by bus, and sewing orders that she does on her own, she earns a monthly income of just under $300 (at Argentina’s informal exchange rate).
In August, she will turn 60, the retirement age for women in Argentina, which would allow her to draw on another source of income. However, a measure implemented by President Javier Milei’s government will prevent her from accessing her pension.
The Pension Debt Payment Plan – known as the pension moratorium – was a law passed during the administration of former President Alberto Fernández in 2023, which allowed those who did not have the required 30 years of contributions to instead pay into a plan of up to 120 installments through a direct deduction from their pension, allowing them to qualify for retirement.
The moratorium was for two years, until March 2025, and extendable for two more. But in October, Argentina’s government announced that it would not be renewed.
Informal work
When Nilda finished high school, she started a career in teaching, but quickly had to drop out. “I got married very young and became a mother at 20. That’s why I stopped studying, had three children not too far apart in age, and had to take care of the family,” she recalls.
Some time later, a fourth child arrived, but beyond the years she dedicated exclusively to raising children, Nilda calculates she’s worked for 17 years in formal jobs and almost 20 years in odd jobs and gig work. But those don’t count to the 30 years of eligible contributions required to retire by law.
According to the latest official data, 36.1% of Argentines have precarious jobs, meaning their employers don’t make payments into the retirement system. And, according to a 2023 government report, the domestic employment sector — made up almost entirely of women — has much higher informality rates, close to 75%. Nilda is part of these statistics.
“They tell us: ‘You can’t retire because you don’t have the years of contributions,’ but we do have the years of work. What happens is that employers, if you go and present the situation to them, tell you: ‘If you leave, I have 10 people in line after you.’ So, that also demoralizes you,” she says.
According to her estimates, Nilda needs to contribute more than $5,000 to retire. Without the moratorium that allowed payment in installments, she would have to pay it all in full before August.
“It’s impossible, impossible. Even if my children helped me, I can’t afford it,” she laments.
For months now, senior citizens have gathered on Wednesday afternoons in front of Congress in Buenos Aires to protest government policies and particularly its pension reform.
Two weeks ago, a protest by retirees, joined by soccer fans and members of social and political organizations, ended in a violent clash between police and protesters. More than 100 people were arrested, and a photojournalist was seriously injured and remains hospitalized.
As part of the government’s cuts, Milei vetoed a law in September that would have adjusted pension payments to mitigate pensioners’ loss of purchasing power due to inflation, establishing a minimum pension and setting out an adjustment system based on price and wage developments.
Currently, the minimum pension, with an additional bonus, is less than $300, and pensions are updated monthly according to inflation.
A system where the numbers don’t add up
According to the analysis organization Center for the Implementation of Public Policies for Equity and Growth (CIPPEC), the Argentine pension system stands out for its broad coverage, with 95% of those over 65 receiving some kind of pension. The downside: public spending on the pension system is equivalent to 10% of the country’s GDP, based on data from last year.
The latest social security report, from last September, counts 7.8 million retirees and pensioners. Of these, 22% received non-contributory pensions, a benefit that does not require lifetime contributions.
Of the remaining 78%, or 6.1 million, who do receive a benefit based on contributions, only 2.2 million did not need to access a moratorium to retire.
If she were unable to retire, Nilda could still access a universal pension for older adults (PUAM), equivalent to 80% of a minimum pension, or about $220 per month, and health coverage.
However, that benefit is only available starting at age 65. Pension lawyer Christian González D’Alessandro tells CNN that, in this way, “the age of eligibility for a benefit for women will inevitably be raised.”
Furthermore, Nilda would lose all the contributions she made during her formal working years as well as the ability to continue working and contributing, if her current employers were to regularize her situation. She would also be unable to collect other types of pensions, such as a widow’s pension.
Nilda is still married and has become a grandmother of five. She feels fortunate. Aside from some muscle pain from cycling, she doesn’t usually experience physical discomfort or have any chronic illnesses that require regular medication expenses.
With her and her husband’s income, they manage to make ends meet, but even so, she would like to be able to treat her children to meals and cover expenses, or occasionally take her grandchildren to the movies.
“I hope that, beyond having a headache or feeling tired, I can still be healthy enough to keep working,” she says about her future.