
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, according to new survey results released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
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, according to a report on Current Population Survey results.