Households must have an income of $75,000 or less per year, or a joint couple income of $150,000 to be eligible and receive the $600 and a further $600 for any children under the age of 17.
For some, the money lands immediately into their bank account or they can check the status using the IRS tool, Get My Payment.
However, the amount offered in the second round of checks is $600, compared to $1,200 in the first round in March 2020. On this occasion, the eligibility criteria is different and for millions of Americans, ‘the payment status is not available.’
Dan Kettle, the founder of US Lender, Pheabs, raised his concerns about the stimulus checks and whether they are actually helping.
“Receiving a one-off payment of $1,200 or $600 is useful and will certainly help some households, but it falls well below the national monthly average wage of Americans which is around $2,500.”
“When calculating the loss of income for millions of Americans, the injection of $600 will probably not make much of a difference and it still gives money to people who are working and earning as normal. It could be argued that regular employees do not need this income and it should go to those that need it most.”
“A large proportion of Americans will struggle to claim their stimulus checks and resort to things like payday loans, borrowing from friends or selling their homes or cars to get by - at least until the economy picks up again.”
In the UK, individuals were granted furlough by their employers where they are not required to work due to coronavirus concerns, but they can still reap 80% of their monthly wage. In addition, through banks, companies could apply for bounce bank loans of up to £50,000 and complete a 5 minute application and receive funds in just a matter of hours.
Some have praised the UK system, saying it has provided employees with almost their entire incomes and provided significant funding to those companies that needed it, specifically hospitality, travel and events.
However, others have criticised the furlough scheme for being ‘too generous’ since offering 80% of a monthly wage to stay at home and not offer anything productive, creating a wave of furlough claims and scams that are likely to emerge in the years to come.
“The UK version is not perfect,” Kettle continues. “But for a lot of individuals and businesses, the amounts are so large that they will not negatively affect their financial positions. There will be some people who have fallen on hard times, but generally people should more or less be able to stay on top of their finances. Especially, if you are receiving 80% of your wage, but do not have to pay for travel, dry cleaning or things like office socials. Plus, being able to claim up to £50,000 for your business, with 0% in the first year, is incredibly generous.”