Many states go ahead with plans to send stimulus checks to residents, taking over from the federal government which continues to be tied down by Washington politics. They stepped in to help counter high inflation, pandemic woes, and other financial hardships being faced by millions of low and moderate-income residents.
During the pandemic, the federal administration sent three rounds of stimulus checks to a majority of Americans. Out-of-work Americans who were struggling with everyday expenses were provided immediate and direct solace as the three successive stimulus checks reached their banks or came in as debit cards or paper checks through the US Postal Service.
Within weeks of the pandemic-induced shutdown, Americans, mainly those in the low-income category had run out of money, as most survived on paycheck-to-paycheck. The federal administrative moved in fast for once, with Trump having dithered for weeks before declaring a pandemic. The delay led to the virus spreading across America before the shutdown could be enforced.
And with states having a say in imposing a lockdown, the shutdown was not as complete as it should have been. The first round of stimulus checks worth $1,200 provided food and essentials to millions of beleaguered citizens. The second round followed in December 2021 followed by the third and final round in March 2021.
The final round was part of the American Rescue Plan Act and gave Americans up to $1,400. President Biden did not confine the ARPA to just direct payments. Businesses and local bodies, including states, received generous grants.
While the support to small businesses helped them survive and ride out the pandemic, the support to states and other local bodies provided funds that proved valuable in 2022 when the federal direct stimulus checks came to an end.
The third stimulus check was not the final round of payments as the extended unemployment checks sending $300 per week to out-of-work employees continued till September 6, 2021. Another support was the expanded Child Tax Credit stimulus check that sent out between $3,000 to $3,600 for each child.
The End Of Federal Stimulus Checks Affected Children The Hardest
This was one of the most positive parts of the ARPA. The Child Tax Credit, especially the monthly checks that were sent out between $250 to $300 for each child had a vital role in addressing the income volatility that was faced by many families during the economic downturn following the pandemic.
Over nearly three years, over one in every three households with children and about one in two such Black and Latino households were faced with major hardship that included the inability to provide food, proper shelter, and utilities.
These along with other side effects of economic insecurity have greatly hindered children’s education, health, and economic outcomes.
Strong income fluctuations are a normal curse for a majority of households in America, but the pandemic was exceptionally harsh to such households, and the effect on the children of such families was incalculable as the consequence was not confined to just food and shelter.
Children In Low-Income Families Face A Renewed Mental Health Crisis
New insights by UNICEF indicate that children and young people felt the impact of COVID-19 on their mental health and well-being more harshly and the damage will continue to linger for years to come.
The international body’s most comprehensive insight into the mental health of children and adolescents, and even of caregivers, reveal that children and even young people carry the burden of mental health conditions associated with the stress of severe economic downturn that follows such natural calamities.
The latest available studies indicate that one in seven adolescents aged between ten and nineteen are found to live with a diagnosed mental ailment. And this phenomenon is worldwide. The impact of the pandemic was particularly severe as it was all-encompassing.
Too little attention was given by the government to address these critical needs and not much importance was placed on the relationship between mental health and economic downturns related to pandemics.
An unexplored benefit of the Child Tax Credit stimulus check was the immediate improvement in mental well-being among families experiencing persistent financial insecurity. This growing economic precarity is also behind the spurt witnessed in places with low income.
It was found that 77% of parents surveyed said that the monthly CTC payments made them and their children less anxious and 90% said that the payments were a great help and made a huge difference for their families.
The Rescue Plan managed to a great extent to address these issues and the figures are there to show it. The child tax credit stimulus checks provided generous relief for families during the pandemic and helped assuage the mental health crisis faced by children and teens.
The CTC stimulus checks were a fast-acting, wide-ranging economic program that immediately reduced parental stress levels and more importantly improved the overall well-being of the family.
The impact of the Child Tax Credit stimulus check was far-ranging and widely successful.
But the program was allowed to die a quiet death by the Republicans who had an eye on the midterms a year later and were not going to allow the Democrats to steal a march over them.
President Biden wanted the payments to continue through 2025, while other Democratic members wanted it to be a permanent feature of the American economy.
For six vital months, families across America experienced multiple benefits from these monthly payments. Unlike the other social safety net programs, households were not required to apply. All those who filed their income tax returns electronically received automatic payments transferred to their designated bank accounts. The rest got a stimulus check in their mail.
The Child Tax Credit boosted consumer spending by $27 billion despite a period of great economic volatility. Experts say that around 3.7 million children were freed from the clutches of poverty during the period between July and December 2021 when the Child Tax Credit payments were sent out.
The greatest advantage of the Child Tax Credit payments was the way they were regularly credited to bank accounts without bureaucratic interference and tons of paperwork. The payments proved that small to medium regular payments on a predictable schedule is more impactful than a sump sum.
When families had money arriving in their accounts regularly, they were able to plan and cover unexpected expenses. That amount of stability had the effect of immediately reducing anxiety among parents and children alike.
