Fourth Stimulus Check Possible? Direct Payments Brought ‘Immediate Decline’ In Hardship

The neediest of Americans were officially able to combat economic hardship thanks to the rounds of stimulus checks they received from the federal government due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, according to new studies.

According to Census Bureau surveys, the two latest rounds of aid helped to improve quality of life for many struggling Americans, with nearly $2,000 per person in a six-month period able to pay household bills and by food without worrying, while also reducing anxiety and depression, the New York Times reports.

“We see an immediate decline among multiple lines of hardship concentrated among the most disadvantaged families,” H. Luke Shaefer, a professor at the University of Michigan, who was one of the authors of the study, told the publication.

Financial instability was decreased by 43%, while food shortages in households with children fell 42% between January and April ($600 payments were sent in December while $1,400 payments were sent in March). Anxiety and Depression, tied to worries about financial security, also fell by more than 20%.

Schaefer also pointed out that the survey data showed the influx of cash allowed families to address their biggest problems in a quicker state, and the fact that the money was quickly dispersed by the government was the best way to get it to the families who needed it.

“Cash aid offers families great flexibility to address their most pressing problems, and getting it out quickly is something the government knows how to do,” he said.

The results of the study come as calls continue to grow for not only a fourth stimulus check payment to Americans but recurring payments as well.

Experts have predicted that recurring payments, which Progressive Democratic lawmakers have asked for, could not only help pull millions of Americans out of poverty, but extra money could become necessary as jobless benefits for the unemployed start dwindling down, with several states ending the extra payments early in an effort to get people back to work, citing the payments as a reason people were not returning to work.

Lawmakers aren’t the only ones who have also made calls for a fourth check though, with an online petition already receiving more than 2 million signatures from Americans who have asked not only for more payment assistance but a plan by lawmakers to trigger automatic payments and assistance if certain circumstances aren’t met.

Still, while a fourth check has not been officially taken off the table entirely, the Biden Administration currently does not have plans to include another round of direct payments.