There’s no question that the Internal Revenue Service has done a good job in disbursing millions of coronavirus stimulus checks worth billions to cash-hungry U.S. taxpayers under the American Rescue Plan.

But even before the dust settles on that achievement, there is already increasing chatter about a fourth or even a fifth round of direct stimulus payments. Know that to date, Congress has green-lighted the delivery of three stimulus checks to most Americans—a $1,200 check in April 2020, $600 in December, and the current $1,400 payments.

For many financially struggling Americans, however, the latest round of stimulus checks likely won’t last long. With this in mind, twenty-one Democratic senators recently signed off on a letter to President Joe Biden in support of recurring stimulus payments.

“Almost six in ten people say the $1,400 payments set to be included in the rescue package will last them less than three months,” the senators wrote.

“We urge you to include recurring direct payments and automatic unemployment insurance extensions tied to economic conditions in your Build Back Better long-term economic plan,” they added.

The senators also pointed to recent polling data that revealed that a majority of Americans strongly support recurring stimulus payments.

“Polling shows 65 percent of Americans support recurring cash payments ‘for the duration of the pandemic.’ This includes support from 54 percent of Republicans and 60 percent of independents. Economists support the idea too,” they wrote.

Moreover, in a January press release, Rep. Ilhan Omar noted: “A one-time payment of $2,000 is simply not enough. The American people are counting on us to deliver transformative change, and we need to meet the moment by delivering monthly payments of $2,000.”

According to recent research from the financial services firm TransUnion, four in ten Americans are still continuing to experience a loss of income compared to before the pandemic started more than a year ago.

“38 percent of U.S. consumers said their household income remains negatively impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. … While 5 percent of the population has thrived during the pandemic—reporting no income drop and better than planned finances—another 3 percent are devastated by reduced income and don’t think they’ll ever recover,” the report wrote.

“For those whose income has been reduced, 8 percent are resilient saying their finances have fully recovered, and another 27 percent are hopeful saying their finances will recover. Thirty-five percent of all consumers report their financial situation is stable.”

It also found that those who are most negatively affected by the pandemic will use the cash for basic living expenses, such as groceries, utilities, and the mortgage or rent. Roughly one in five adults are “in limbo,” which TransUnion defines as those who have lost income and are unsure how their finances will recover—if at all.

In another new analysis conducted by the Tax Policy Center at the Urban Institute & Brookings Institution, it contended that a fourth round of stimulus checks has the potential to lift more than seven million Americans out of poverty.

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Minneapolis-based Science and Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek, and Arirang TV. Follow or contact him on LinkedIn. This piece first appeared several weeks back and is being reposted due to reader interest in this subject.