She was set to retire in August, but Milei’s government has dashed her hopes

For months now, senior citizens have gathered to protest Argentina’s government policies and particularly its pension reform.

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. 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.