The gap between the haves and have-nots in Australia is at a 20-year high

COVID-19 changed lives – arguably, in most cases, for the worse. The immediate and longer-term impacts of the pandemic brought loss of lives, lockdowns, isolation and ongoing physical and mental ill health.

However, it did have at least one positive impact. For a brief period, the pandemic reduced the amount of income inequality that exists in Australian households.

According to data from the latest annual Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, the government's raft of COVID support payments in 2020, the first year affected by the pandemic, led to a marked decline in inequality.

The HILDA Survey follows the lives of more than 17,000 Australians each year, over the course of their lifetime...