Fourth stimulus check news summary: 16 August 2021
Stimulus checks live updates: 16 August
Headlines
- Food assistance program benefits to rise
- IRS sends out over $15 billion in the second round of Child Tax Credit payments
- Some August Child Tax Credit payments to be sent out as paper checks
- Child Tax Credit roll-out linked to drop in food insufficiency, says US Census Bureau report
- Households with children experience 3% drop in food insufficiency following first Child Tax Credit payment
- Prospect of a fourth stimulus check could be affected by July jobs data (Full story)
- Nearly 3m signatures now accrued in petition for recurring stimulus checks (Full story)
Useful information / links
- Will the $3.5tn infrastructure package include a direct payment? (Details)
- How many people will get the $1,600 tax refund payment? (Find out)
- California Golden State stimulus check: info on payments for dependents
- How much can stimulus check, Child Tax Credit recipients get from the schemes? (Details)
- When should I get in touch with the IRS if my tax refund hasn't arrived? (Find out)
Have a read of some of our related news articles:
US expected to recommend vaccine boosters for all Americans regardless of age
Biden administration health officials are expected to recommend Covid-19 booster shots for all Americans, regardless of age, with an announcement to come later this week, a source familiar with the plans confirmed to USA TODAY.
The US Government has announced that food stamp benefits will increase by 27%.
The new food plan estimates the cost of groceries necessary to frugally feed a family of four.
The first round of child tax credit payments drastically reduced hunger rates for America's young.
Now the second payment aims to help 61 million children.
Drought in US causes mandatory cuts in water supply
US officials have declared an official shortage in the massive reservoir of Lake Mead for the first time, triggering water cuts to the drought-stricken Southwest.
The shortage will reduce water allocation to Arizona, Nevada and Mexico for the year beginning in October, said the US Bureau of Reclamation.
Arizona will lose 18% of its annual apportionment, while Nevada will see cuts of 7%. The allotment for Mexico will be slashed by 5%.
The initial round of cutbacks will affect mainly farmers in the short term, but further drops in water levels could affect 25 million people in the cities of Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Tucson and Las Vegas.
Lake Mead, formed in the 1930s from the damming of the Colorado River at the Nevada-Arizona border, is the largest reservoir in the United States.
When will federal unemployment benefits expire? PEUC, PUA, and $300 weekly payments
The US Government's extended pandemic support for the unemployed is set to expire soon.
Some states have withdrawn from the program even sooner.
Advocacy groups are calling on President Biden to extend the programs beyond the September deadline. The full story here.
Second child tax credit
Some points to know about this second child tax credit check from the IRS include:
- These payments are going out to around 36 million US families.
- This new batch of payments totals about $15 billion.
- The vast majority of the payments will come in the form of a direct deposit, not as a paper check.
U.S. consumer sentiment plummets in early August to decade low
U.S. consumer sentiment dropped sharply in early August to its lowest level in a decade, in a worrying sign for the economy as Americans gave faltering outlooks on everything from personal finances to inflation and employment, a survey showed.
The unexpected reading could give Federal Reserve policymakers pause if it translates in the months ahead to a dent in economic activity. The central bank has been getting closer to a decision on when to begin pulling back the extraordinary stimulus it put in place to shield the economy from the pandemic.
The University of Michigan said its preliminary consumer sentiment index fell to 70.2 in the first half of this month from a final reading of 81.2 in July. That was the lowest level since 2011, and there have been only two larger declines in the index over the past 50 years. Those were at the depths of the 2007-2009 recession and during the first wave of shutdowns in April 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic.
The losses were widespread across income, age, and education subgroups and spanned all regions.
Investors step back from risk amid worries over China data, Afghanistan
Investors generally shied away from risk Monday, as turmoil in Afghanistan, fresh concerns about an economic slowdown in China and the spreading coronavirus Delta variant put the brakes on last week's equities surge.
Wall Street's major indices were all down around midday Monday after notching fresh record gains last week, with the tech sector taking the brunt of the losses. At the same time, safe-haven investments such as gold, the dollar and U.S. Treasuries saw increased investor demand.
IRS reminder on Child Tax Credit
The Internal Revenue Service remind customers that Child Tax Credit payments are not considered income and will not affect your access to government benefits.
How to trigger the Child Tax Credit payments
The IRS has been working hard to get Child Tax Credit payments out to as many eligible families as possible, but were unable to send them to some households. The tax authority has based eligibility for the payments on information provided in the most recent tax return filings.
If you are not required to submit a tax return then the IRS may not have your details on file. If so, use the details below to provide your personal and banking information to trigger the payments.
Bernie Sanders hails impact of Child Tax Credit
Vermont senator Bernie Sanders has hailed the impact of the Child Tax Credit, and called for the scheme to be expanded beyond 2021.
"Direct payments as a result of the expanded Child Tax Credit are now in month two. In that time: - child poverty has been cut in HALF - we have seen a significant decrease in child hunger," the Democratic lawmaker tweeted.
"Our job now: extend the expanded Child Tax Credit. Let's get it done."
July 2021 job report: how will this affect stimulus checks?
The Labor Department released their monthly jobs report last week, revealing the data for numbers of people in work in the US as well as average hourly earnings, important as the current inflation in the country is high.
The unemployment data will likely impact President Biden's next course of action as he attempts to steer the country through a difficult economic recovery. How will last week's promising jobs numbers impact the push for a fourth stimulus check?
Child Tax Credit sees food insecurity falls by 24%
A study has found that food security has shrunk by almost a quarter since the start of the first round Child Tax Credit payments a month ago. On the passing of the Child Tax Credit as part of the American Rescue Plan back in March, the Biden administration said that the the enhanced CTC would cut child poverty in half.
Petition for monthly stimulus checks surpasses 2.8m
A change.org petition calling for recurring monthly $2k stimulus checks is edging closer to its target of 3 million signatures. More than 2.8 million people have now been collected, making it one of the most signed petitions ever on the platform.
Schumer announces $1bn Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
Democratic senator and senate majority leader Chuck Schumer was in Tonawanda in New York, where he announced the $1 billion Great Lakes Restoration Initiative as part of the new bipartisan infrastructure bill.
US appeals court sets quick schedule to consider eviction ban
A three judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has set a fast-track schedule to consider whether to allow a new Biden administration covid-19 residential eviction ban to remain in place.
Lawyers for Alabama and Georgia realtors filed an emergency request at the weekend seeking to overturn the new 60-day eviction ban that was ordered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on 3 August.
On Friday, a US district court judge in Washington said he would have blocked the new ruling but said her hands were tied by an earlier appeals court ruling.
The appeals court said the Justice Department has until Tuesday at 9 a.m. EDT to respond and then lawyers for the landlords have until Wednesday at 9 a.m. EDT to reply. Both sides asked the court to rule by Thursday.
The White House said Friday it continues to urge state and local governments to quickly distribute $46.5 billion in emergency rental assistance funds approved by Congress.
Lawyers for the landlord and real estate groups on Saturday cited President Joe Biden's earlier statements in asking for a quick ruling.
"As the president himself has acknowledged, the CDC’s latest extension is little more than a delay tactic designed to buy time to distribute rental assistance," the groups said urging the appeals court to consider taking immediate action to block the eviction ban's enforcement.
Under heavy political pressure, the CDC reversed course on 3 August and issued a slightly narrower eviction moratorium just three days after the prior one expired. The current moratorium covers nearly 94% of US counties, but that could change based on covid-19 conditions.
More than 15 million people in 6.5 million US households are currently behind on rental payments, according to a study, and collectively owe more than $20 billion to landlords.
Photo by Ed JONES / AFP
IRS issues warning over Child Tax Credit scammers
A word of warning from the IRS over potential scams surrounding the Child Tax Credit.
Fourth stimulus check: will petitions have an effect on decision-making?
For more information on the progress of that petition and various others, you can read our coverage here.
Fourth stimulus check petition nears signature goal
The Change.org petition created by Stephanie Bonin, a Colorado restaurant owner, has been gaining traction since its creation last year. The petition calls on Congress “to make recurring checks automatic if certain triggers are met,” so that people will not have to wait around for the government to act. Those recurring checks would be “$2,000 payments for adults and $1,000 payment for kids."
Bonin, who fears for her financial future along with millions of Americans, wants the disbursements to be made monthly until the pandemic ends saying “Otherwise, laid-off workers, furloughed workers, the self-employed, and workers dealing with reduced hours will struggle to pay their rent or put food on the table.”
US consumer sentiment plummets in early August to decade low
US consumer sentiment dropped sharply in early August to its lowest level in a decade, in a worrying sign for the economy as Americans gave faltering outlooks on everything from personal finances to inflation and employment, a survey showed.
The unexpected reading could give Federal Reserve policymakers pause if it translates in the months ahead to a dent in economic activity. The central bank has been getting closer to a decision on when to begin pulling back the extraordinary stimulus it put in place to shield the economy from the covid-19 pandemic.
The University of Michigan said its preliminary consumer sentiment index fell to 70.2 in the first half of this month from a final reading of 81.2 in July. That was the lowest level since 2011, and there have been only two larger declines in the index over the past 50 years. Those were at the depths of the 2007-2009 recession and during the first wave of shutdowns in April 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic.
The losses were widespread across income, age, and education subgroups and spanned all regions. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index would remain unchanged at 81.2.
US stock market indexes slipped immediately after the report was released, while the price of gold gained ground. US Treasury bond yields hit session lows.
"The renewed plunge suggests the latest wave of virus cases driven by the Delta variant could be a bigger drag on the economy than we had thought," said Andrew Hunter, an economist at Capital Economics.
Economic growth is still expected to grow this year at its fastest pace in four decades after falling into a brief recession in 2020 caused by the coronavirus pandemic. But the recovery is showing some indication of cooling off.
Covid-19 cases have doubled in the past two weeks to reach a six-month peak as the more transmissible Delta variant spreads rapidly across the country. Labor shortages across the service sector also persist while supply chain disruptions have continued.
REUTERS/Ann Saphir/File Photo
What is redistricting? Who controls the redistricting process in each state?
New census data has been released for the United States, triggering the once-a-decade process known as redistricting. The latest figures on the nation’s population and demographic shifts are used to redraw the electoral districts and could have a huge impact on elections over the next ten years.
States, cities and regions to experience population growth can be allocated extra seats in the House of Representatives to reflect their size, while others can lose them. This time around there were large gains in the Republican-led states of Texas and Florida, while California and New York are set to lose seats.
US job offers outstrip number of people seeking employment
Job vacancies in the United States rose by 590,000 to hit record high of 10.1 million at the end of June - the highest figures since records began in 2000. The US unemployment rate declined by 0.5 percentage point to 5.4 percent in July, and the number of unemployed fell by 782,000 to 8.7 million.
Unemployment benefits: how many Americans will stop receiving the payment in September and why?
The Century Foundation estimates that as many as 7.5 million workers will lose access to all jobless aid on September 6. The $300 extra benefit is part of the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) and is being claimed by 4.2 million people, a major increase from the 1.2 million claimed a year ago.
The end date for the extra benefits was always set for September 6. President Biden's American Rescue Plan extended the original CARES Act legislation, introduced in March 2020, from March 2021 to Labour Day. Without the extension, it was estimated that 11.4 million people would have lost jobless aid.
Petition for recurring $2K gains 175,000 signatures in one month
The change.org petition, set up by Stephanie Bonin last year which is calling on Congress to support families with a monthly $2,000 payment for adults and a $1,000 payment for children for the duration of the pandemic, has gained 175,000 signatures in the past month. It will become one of the most signed petitions on the website if it reaches its goal of 3 million signatures, which it is on course to do. As of today, it has been attracted 2.806.901 signatures.
Food stamp benefits receive record increase
(Reuters) - The US Agriculture Department is set to announce revised nutrition standards dramatically boosting average food stamp benefits, the agency confirmed on Sunday.
The New York Times first reported the plan to unveil the largest permanent benefits increase in the history of the government's primary anti-hunger program, saying the change would result in average benefits rising more than 25% versus pre-pandemic levels.
Under the new rules, average monthly benefits, $121 per person before the pandemic, will rise by $36 starting in October, the newspaper reported, adding that all 42 million people in the program would receive additional aid.
At the same time, a temporary 15% increase in benefits as part of pandemic relief is set to expire on 30 September. The $3.5 billion boost approved earlier this year provides about $27 more per person, per month, or over $100 more a month for a household of four, in additional food stamp benefits.
The USDA plans a media briefing on Monday to explain the details the changes, but a spokeswoman for the agency, Kate Waters, confirmed the Times report in an email.
Under a 2018 law, the agency has been evaluating its rules to estimate the cost of a nutritious diet called the Thrifty Food Plan, which is used to calculate food stamp benefits, which are formally known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
The USDA said in 2019 that about 11% of the US population was covered by the program.
Unemployment benefits: Will those fired for not getting vaccinated be eligible for the payments?
Corporate America is following the cues of the federal government in introducing tough new vaccination requirements for workers. President Biden recently passed a law requiring all unvaccinated federal employees to submit to extra covid-19 protocols and a growing number of private firms are going one step further.
The likes of Walmart, Google, Facebook, Tyson Foods and United Airlines have recently announced vaccine mandates for workers, in response to the spiralling infection rate. Last Sunday the United States reported a seven-day average of over 108,000 new cases per day, a 36% increase on the week previous.
Covid-19 stimulus cuts bankruptcy rates
The US government has been forced to prop up elements of the economy over the last 18 months, ensuring that individuals, families and businesses remain afloat throughout the pandemic. Small businesses received loans, while Americans were given direct payments in the form of stimulus checks and, more recently, the Child Tax Credit monthly support.
Child Tax Credit August payment: how to track it online
For those who qualify for the Child Tax Credit, 13 August was the day set for this month’s payments to families with children. However, as with the first round of payments, some may not receive theirs as expected.
The Child Tax Credit payments are part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, a stimulus bill signed into law by President Joe Biden to help the nation rebound from the coronavirus pandemic. The payments will total $3,600 per child age 6 and under, and $3,000 for kids ages 7 to 17.
If you didn't get your payment and think you were entitled to one, here's how to check the status of your Child Tax Credit payment...
Would a fourth stimulus check be a good idea?
The White House has remained reluctant to comment on the prospect of a fourth stimulus check in recent months, despite calls both from Congress and across the country to pass additional direct support. For now President Biden appears focused on passing other legislative priorities, such as securing an extension of the new Child Tax Credit program.
Although additional stimulus checks would undoubtedly be popular, this video from Vox shows why additional stimulus spending from the federal government may not be wise.
Get health coverage through 15 August
More people than ever before will qualify for help paying for health coverage, even those who weren’t eligible in the past. If you lost your job-based health plan: There’s a new Special Enrollment Period for the Covid-19 public health emergency. You can enroll in or change Marketplace health insurance plans through 15 August 2021.
After 15 August, you may qualify for a Special Enrollment Period if you lost health coverage through your employer or the employer of a family member in the past 60 days - or you expect to lose coverage in the next 60 days, including if you lose health coverage through a parent or guardian because you are no longer a dependent. In addition, you may qualify for a Special Enrollment Period if you lost health coverage through your employer more than 60 days ago but since 1 January 2020 and were prevented from enrolling in health coverage due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
July 2021 job report: how will this affect stimulus checks?
The Labor Department released their monthly jobs report last week, revealing the data for numbers of people in work in the US as well as average hourly earnings, important as the current inflation in the country is high.
The unemployment data will likely impact President Biden's next course of action as he attempts to steer the country through a difficult economic recovery. How will last week's promising jobs numbers impact the push for a fourth stimulus check?
Fourth stimulus check: what does the jobs data suggest about a new payment?
The headline news is that the US unemployment rate is at its lowest since the start of the pandemic, 5.4%. While not what it was in February 2020, 3.5%, the news is very encouraging as American businesses reopen and people rejoin the workforce.
However, the pandemic is far from over and there could still be economic trouble towards winter. Covid-19 cases are the highest since February, and the states which have low vaccination rates are being battered by the surge. There are people still pushing for a fourth round of stimulus checks, but will President Biden prioritise the Child Tax Credit extension instead?
Child Tax Credit payments linked to drop in food insecurity
The White House claimed that the new Child Tax Credit payments would halve the number of children living in poverty over the first year of the program being introduced. This week the IRS sent out the second round of payments and the early evidence suggests that the Child Tax Credit is helping American families to cover the cost of household essentials.
The Labor Department released their monthly jobs report last week, revealing the data for numbers of people in work in the US as well as average hourly earnings, important as the current inflation in the country is high.
The unemployment data will likely impact President Biden's next course of action as he attempts to steer the country through a difficult economic recovery. How will last week's promising jobs numbers impact the push for a fourth stimulus check?
Stimulus checks and Child Tax Credit live updates: welcome
Hello and welcome to our live blog for Monday 16 August 2021, bringing you the latest news on a possible fourth stimulus check, and updates on the expanded Child Tax Credit, which saw around 36 million US families receive their second monthly payment on Friday. We'll also provide information on other economic-aid measures in the United States, such as unemployment benefits and changes to food assistance programs.