How Can Retirees Survive on 2,500 Cuban Pesos?

A 32-year-old Cuban mother shared a video on Facebook, highlighting the profound poverty experienced by millions in Cuba. She sold household items to gather 6,000 pesos, which only allowed her to buy a bottle of oil, beans, croquettes, deodorant, and soap, leaving her unable to afford rice or a substantial meal.

"With what I sold, I managed to get 6,000 pesos and could buy a bottle of oil, without mentioning the cost, beans, croquettes, I had to buy deodorant, soap, and maybe I had 1,000 pesos left, which was a lot, without buying rice or a main dish," Meyvis Fundora recounted in the video.

At the end of her message, she posed a question that encapsulates the anxiety of a generation: "How does a retiree live on 2,500 pesos? And there are people who aren't retired, earning 2,500. How can they live, folks?"

The responses were unanimous and harsh. "They don't live; they barely survive, endure, and wait," wrote one user. "We don't live. We survive, which is different. It's very sad what they're making us go through," noted another. A third person summed up the situation with a widely shared phrase: "Even Fidel couldn't answer that question."

A retiree, who identified himself as earning exactly that amount, spoke up: "I am one of those retirees getting 2,500 pesos a month. I don't know how I've managed to live on that money. In my case, I thank the Creator for not letting me go to bed without a meal. I can't speak for others, but I'm sure it's not easy for them either."

Others highlighted even starker figures. "If a household spends 5,000 pesos daily, without a doubt," wrote one user, showing that the monthly pension doesn't cover even 24 hours of actual expenses. Someone receiving social assistance pointed out their even worse situation: "What do you think of us, those on social aid, with 1,540? We can't even afford a bottle of oil. We've lost a lot of weight due to hunger and suffering."

Several commentators also noted that the ordeal doesn't end with the pension amount: the queues to collect it and delays of up to two months worsen the situation. "That's without mentioning the long, slow lines they have to stand in to get that little money, and others wait two months or more to collect it," a user wrote.

The erosion of retirees' purchasing power is not a new issue. In August 2025, the regime approved an increase in the lowest pensions, raising them to 4,000 pesos per month. Although presented as an enhancement of social protection, many economists and citizens warned that the increase was inadequate against inflation and the rapid rise in food and other basic goods prices.

The numbers confirm what the video illustrates. Meeting all basic needs—food, medicine, transportation, hygiene—requires around 96,000 pesos monthly, according to recent estimates.

The gap between income and the cost of living persists even after the latest measures announced by the regime. As of July 1, a new minimum wage of 3,210 pesos per month came into effect, a 53% increase from the previous 2,100 pesos. However, the Ministry of Labor cautioned that the new wages would be paid in August for the month of July. Moreover, authorities acknowledged that even the new minimum wage remains insufficient to cover a person's basic needs.

The system's crisis is also evident in the pension funding issues: Granma's provincial government admitted in June 2026 that it lacked the 400 million pesos needed to pay its 111,000 retirees, and on July 18, the regime announced that local businesses would be responsible for these payments, effectively admitting that the State cannot sustain the system.

Meanwhile, more than 1.7 million Cubans depend on these pensions to survive. One commenter summed it up: "That money is not for living; it's for dying slowly. It's shameful that people who worked all their lives receive this payment. They've betrayed an entire country."

For thousands of Cuban retirees, the issue is no longer about how much pensions increase, but rather that their income remains far from the actual cost of living.