Here's What You Need to Remember: Another stimulus measure, recurring or not, could make a difference for many more families.

The third round of direct stimulus aid, initially proposed by the incoming Biden administration in March, has now distributed 167 million payments in total, with more than $390 billion in checks or direct deposit sent out. This week, an additional 1.8 million Americans received their payments

This is a truly enormous amount of money. However, some lawmakers have argued that it has not been enough and that further stimulus payments are necessary. Arguments for a fourth stimulus check – and then recurring checks afterward – have been put forth by progressive lawmakers and are gaining steam within the Democratic caucus (although Congressional Republicans have so far indicated that they are opposed to another stimulus measure).

The frustration on both sides is easy to understand. So far, all qualifying Americans have received $3200 in direct payments: $1200 in March 2020, $600 in December 2020, and $1400 in March 2021. This is not including the dozens of other payouts that the Trump and Biden administrations have sent to subgroups of qualifying Americans – payouts including federal unemployment insurance, an increase of the Child Income Tax Credit, and rental assistance for low-income tenants. These measures have a steep price; the March 2021 legislation alone cost nearly two trillion dollars.

Yet for all the money that the government has poured into the economy, it has so far failed to meet the needs of many lower-income Americans. A TransUnion survey revealed four in ten people have said that their income remains below what it was in February 2020, prior to the onset of the pandemic. The unemployment rate has remained steady at 6.1%, far higher than its pre-pandemic level (3.5%). Unemployment rates have proved especially difficult to lower in select industries, such as foodservice and hospitality, which are both impossible to do via social distancing and also overwhelmingly low-skilled.

A Center on Budget and Policy analysis based on U.S. Census Bureau data suggested that 25% of Americans struggled to pay household expenses week by week. Meanwhile, Forbes has reported that the 650 richest Americans collectively gained $1.2 trillion over the course of the pandemic.

How can these problems be addressed? In the long term, it is likely that the economy will return to normal after the end of the pandemic, and with more than half of all Americans have received at least one COVID shot, some semblance of pre-COVID normality seems certain by the end of the summer. However, some families might not make it until then – and there is little doubt that the $1400 stimulus payments, small though they were, kept many solvent through March and April. Another stimulus measure, recurring or not, could make a difference for many more families.

Trevor Filseth is a news reporter and writer for the National Interest.

This article appeared earlier and is being reposted due to reader interest.

Image: Reuters