Rescue aid package may reduce inequality, but for how long?

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats have celebrated President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan as a blow against one of America’s most entrenched economic woes: The vast inequality that divides the richest from the rest — a gap made worse by the viral pandemic. Hailed as the biggest anti-poverty package in generations, the plan delivers huge benefits to both low- and middle-income families. All told, experts say, the package will reduce child poverty in the United States by nearly half. Yet for how long? As ambitious and expensive as it is, the legislation stands to go only so far in reducing income and wealth inequality.