Stimulus checks have affected each and every one of us, whether it be through stores closing in town due to understaffing or a direct family member collecting one. There is a huge amount of the population in the US that recently became unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stimulus checks are given out to taxpayers in the US, many of whom rely on them having lost their job, or had a significant loss of income due to the COVID-19 virus. The stimulus checks are an attempt to generate more money to either be injected into the economy or to generate the basic needs of those who are receiving no monthly salary.

The stimulus checks are part of a larger stimulus package designed to support the economy. The packages are supposed to boost spending of US citizens, and indirectly bring employment rates up. Recently, though, employment rates have plummeted due to the stimulus checks, leading to a significant recession in spending and the significant economic decline of our country as a whole. 

Though there’s certain upsides to the financial aid of the citizens throughout our country, there’s definitely more monumental downsides to it.

In an article done by CBS News Detroit it’s mentioned that due to the stimulus checks, the Congressional Budget Office is expecting the debt of the federal government is going to surpass the size of the entire economy, or almost 21 trillion dollars by the end of this year. 

In an article done by NBC News, it’s stated that the COVID-19 relief bill that president Joe Biden put into effect will eventually end up costing up to 3 trillion dollars. It includes more stimulus checks, more unemployment benefits and more aid to cities and states, but there’s also a child tax credit, child and dependent care tax credit and an earned income tax credit, which weren’t accounted for in the 2 trillion dollar cost estimate. 

There are many businesses, aswell, through the US that are understaffed due to the lack of employment that is a result of the stimulus checks. People are less likely to work for their wage or just slightly more or less than that when they could be earning the same money while doing nothing.

This wave of unemployment is spread throughout the whole country, and is even seen in our own town, with small businesses and storefronts closing early or not opening in the first place because they have such limited staff. 

Article by the New York Times states, “Research by Ioana Marinescu, Daphné Skandalis and Daniel Zhao, for example, found that every 10 percent increase in the jobless benefits a person received corresponded to a 3 percent decline in the number of jobs applied to.” It makes sense, in a way, that people making just as much or even more money than they were previously would lessen the risk of exposing themselves to the COVID-19 virus and stay home.

A similar idea is stated in an article by The Independent Florida Alligator, where many of the people surveyed stated that they didn’t have much or any desire to work in restaurant business, and a lot of them are having their needs fulfilled by just the stimulus checks, causing a lot of people to leave their former jobs.

The COVID-19 virus has affected the overall use of the stimulus checks. While considered productive in an everyday sense, the stimulus checks when used to compensate the workers in the US after losing their jobs has not only a negative effect on the economy, but also a significant effect on the overall morale of employees. 

The US Department of Labor’s informational article on stimulus checks states, “The CARES Act gives states the option of extending unemployment compensation to independent contractors and other workers who are ordinarily ineligible for unemployment benefits.” 

The COVID-19 pandemic is providing more money flowing to the people in the US than there would have been if there wasn’t a worldwide pandemic, and it’s having a great effect on the way the money is being used. 

The stimulus checks are being used by unemployed people as their basic means of life, therefore limiting the flow of money into the businesses that formerly had a steady flow of revenue. Because of this, there are greatly reduced sales resulting in less workers because of less pay, which ultimately causes a lot of small businesses to close and shut down. 

Though this might just seem hypothetical we see it in everyday life, too. The unemployment rates in our town, which formerly weren’t very high at all, are rising. There have been several small business closings in the Bernardsville Town Center, and nothing has reopened in their place. 

Such as the Starbucks in town, a popular attraction for early morning commuters and people working from home, as well as a popular hangout spot for middle and high schoolers. They’ve recently started closing their location at 2 pm, before the end of the school day, greatly limiting their sales from all students which is a large portion of their profit. They’ve been very honest about their early closings, and said multiple times that it’s been due to staffing issues, and having a shortage in employees. 

Overall, the stimulus checks have been a detriment to our society. They have caused unemployment throughout the country as a whole, but also in our small town of Bernardsville. The disadvantages greatly outweigh the benefits.