By comparison, last December a similar family in the capital needed 2.128 million pesos—US$286 less—to fall within the average income bracket, data that reflect the increase in the cost of living, according to information from the City Government’s Statistics Institute in both cases.

   In May, a family of two adults and two children needed 2,450,045 pesos to be considered middle class in the capital, due to a 2.6 percent jump in the cost of food and beverages (+2.8 percent) and the influence of the increase in vegetables, tubers, and legumes (+14.5 percent).

  There were also increases in milk, dairy products, and eggs (+3.7 percent) and bread and cereals (+2.6 percent), while fruits (-3.4 percent) helped to mitigate the rise in the basic food basket.

  The newspaper Ambito Financiero, which shared the official report, indicated that to enter the “well-off” sector, a family had to earn 7,840,143 pesos (US$5,600) during May, equivalent to more than four complete food baskets.

  Meanwhile, to be considered part of the “fragile middle class,” a family needed an income of at least 1,960,036 pesos, representing a 2.8 percent increase in the cost of the basic food basket, in line with rising food prices.

  Families in the “non-vulnerable poor” category required an income of 1,549,225 pesos, which marks the poverty line in the city.

  Those living in poverty were defined as those earning between 844,146 pesos (US$602) and 1,549,225 pesos (US$1,607), while a household living in extreme poverty was defined as one earning less than 844,146 pesos.

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