In this economic report, we aim to analyze the evolution of the salaries of school custodians and teachers in the province of Mendoza, comparing them to the province’s inflation rate, as well as examining the relationship between wages and the Market Basket (Canasta Básica Total, CBT). On the one hand, we will assess how much purchasing power salaries have lost in the past two years due to inflation. On the other hand, we will highlight the gap between the earnings of education workers and the income required by a “typical family” to live in Mendoza.
When analyzing salary increases in an inflationary context like Argentina’s current situation, it is essential to compare them with price trends. This allows us to determine the real wage increases, meaning the actual purchasing power of salaries at any given moment. To carry out this comparison, and considering that wage negotiations (paritarias) apply different criteria, we will analyze the salary increases separately for school custodians, teaching positions, and hourly-paid teaching staff.
Subsequently, we will compare the selected benchmark cases and include an additional case of a newly hired primary school teacher. The reference will be the Market Basket (CBT) for a “Type II” family, to which we will add an estimated rent cost of $7,000, as this expense is not considered in the calculation by the Directorate of Statistics and Economic Research (DEIE).