Census: Inequality last year grew, but child poverty dropped

By MIKE SCHNEIDER
Associated Press

Income inequality in the U.S. increased last year for the first time in more than a decade. But childhood poverty was cut almost in half due to expansion of the federal government’s child tax credit and stimulus payments made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s according to new survey results released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. According to the Current Population Survey, the income inequality index increased 1.2% from 2020 to 2021, the first time the measurement known as the Gini Index has increased since 2011. Declines in household income among the poorest U.S. residents appears to have driven the income inequality.