The Internal Revenue Service has made over 169M payments as the 3rd round of stimulus checks reached most beneficiaries over 6 months. In July alone, over 2 million individuals and families benefitted from the third stimulus check worth $1,400. But progressive lawmakers and many affected individuals continue to push for more stimulus support as the economic downturn continues.
Lawmakers have appealed for recurring payments in the fourth round and have said that it needs to be linked to certain conditions and not dependent on legislative measures each time there is an emergency.
People have already received $3,200 under the three relief measures; $1,200 went out in the first months of the pandemic in 2020, $600 was paid under relief measures in December 2020. The third round of stimulus checks was the most generous as the American Rescue Plan gave $1,400 to every eligible individual and family starting March 2021.
The economic support through the stimulus checks had helped people during the severe crisis triggered by the pandemic. But it wasn’t enough as millions continue to be in financial pain. The pandemic is yet to loosen its grip and continues to strike in new variants that are more potent and lethal.
A quarter of citizens continue to struggle with their everyday expenses and the new Delta variant is creating havoc with the economic recovery.
Data Points To The Need For Another Stimulus Check
The rate of unemployment continues to hover above 5% and has now reached 5.2%, way above the pre-pandemic mark (3.5%).
Businesses have started hiring, but there are 5.3M fewer people on the payroll than during the pre-pandemic days.
The new variant of the virus has forced Oxford Economics to pull back forecasts for world economic growth from an optimistic 6.4% to 5.9%.
The final straw has been the end of unemployment benefits for 9.1M Americans. This will stop around $5B in benefits that had been going out every week to unemployed Americans. This aid helped families stay above the poverty line. Millions of households are in for a tough time unless other measures are undertaken.
