Many people were put out of jobs and were unable to support themselves nor their families during the COVID-19 pandemic. By May of 2020, 9 million people were unemployed, all having to rely on others for their survival. 

Many went without jobs for months at a time with no source of income apart from stimulus packages. Supporting dependents was a huge part of why life got so hard when COVID began. After getting laid off, it is hard enough to support yourself, let alone support children, companions, and other dependents. 

Payments sent out by the government steadily helped these unfortunate people get on their feet and moving forward. Every life affected by COVID had been made slightly better by the stimulus checks. The burden laid on their shoulders of not having food, water, or a place to stay was helped and set further aside.  

Being left to rely on relatives does not work out for everyone as many relatives may not have the means, space, or time to help their loved ones. Making the unemployment problem more individual has helped everyone by containing the burden from other’s lives and fixing it with little intervention from others. 

Many were under pressure to help their families, but that put their lives on hold to help others. When the stimulus checks were deployed it helped the people and families in need take care of their problems on their own, and less dependent on their loved ones. 

An economic boost came as a result of some people finding themselves with more spending money after deployment of the checks. An article by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation says the economic output boosted 0.6%, which in hindsight is a small number. In a 22 trillion dollar economy, however, that is a lot of jobs and money put back into the pockets of Americans. 

MarketWatch published an article by Jeffry Bartash correlating the 2.4% jump in customer spending in January of 2021 to the $600 dollar stimulus checks handed out a month prior. This had been the largest spike in customer spending since June of 2020.

As a part of the initial stimulus package in March 2020, 700 billion dollars were put into forgivable loans for businesses, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. These are known as PPP loans, and are meant to revitalize a business. Existing and past jobs were salvaged with these loans as they were large enough to rehire laid off employees, further lessening the overwhelming unemployment in the U.S. as COVID struck. 

Keeping existing workers in said businesses was also a big piece of the PPP loan ability. Allowing workers to continue their lives by staying gainfully employed not only helped with their income, but also helped restore their sense of normalcy and dignity. In small businesses even one worker could mean the difference between a productive business or a business that has to close at two in the afternoon because there is not enough help to keep the business open. 

The stimulus package also included COBRA subsidy changes. Laid off workers were granted 18 months of healthcare coverage from their former employers. While the people still had to pay the majority of the cost of the plan, their healthcare plan could remain in force and not be revoked when they lost their jobs.

All of these benefits helped bring much needed help and comfort in a time of great uncertainty.  Lives were made a little bit easier and better than they would have been during this pandemic. People all across the nation had been taken out of jobs, left to take care of their kids who would otherwise be in daycare or school, or stranded with no way to pay off debts or buy vital goods to live. 

The stimulus packages passed by congress changed the grim outlook for the future and saved families by giving them the means to feed themselves, re-enter the workforce, and help stimulate the economy – outcomes which benefit everyone. 

Money granted to businesses helped lower the unemployment rate from 14% at the peak of the pandemic to 4.8% after businesses were helped to their feet by the government. The stimulus packages helped and stabilized the economy and people of the United States. 

Without these stimulus packages progress would not have come forwards from the heavily distressed and uncomfortable U.S. citizens.