Wealth gap growing in U.S.: report

BEIJING, April 21 (Xinhua) -- The gap between the rich and poor is growing in the U.S. over the years, says a report on the U.S. human rights record released on Sunday.

America's Gini index was 0.477 in 2011 and income inequality increased by 1.6 percent between 2010 and 2011, indicating a widened rich-poor gap, the report says.

Between 2010 and 2011, the share of aggregate income increased 1.6 percent for the quintile with the highest household income, and increased 4.9 percent for the top five percent households, it said, citing U.S. official figures.

During the same period, the aggregate share of income declined for the middle quintile and the changes in the shares of aggregate income for the lowest two quintiles were not statistically significant, it added.

America's poverty rate in 2011 was 15 percent, with 46.2 million people in poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau data released in September 2012.

Furthermore, the report says there were 21 homeless people per 10,000 people in the general population and nearly four in 10 homeless people were unsheltered.

The Human Rights Record of the United States in 2012 was released by China's State Council Information Office in response to the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012 issued by the U.S. State Department.

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