As Stimulus Check Uplift Wanes, Vulnerable Workers Are at Risk
“Coronavirus stimulus checks and the $600 a week unemployment benefit provided by the CARES act helped lift 18 million people out of poverty in April, according to a new study by Columbia University researchers. But when the benefits expired in July, 14 million of those people fell back into poverty in August or September. A program to provide $300 payments for up to six weeks has been hit with delays in some states and funding has run out in others. As Congress negotiates a new stimulus bill, some economists worry that the most vulnerable workers are getting pushed deeper into poverty. A recent survey by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that 60% of Black and 72% of Latino households said they experienced serious financial problems since the start of the pandemic, compared with just over a third for white and Asian American households.”