by 2 minutes ReadFILE PHOTO: A five-dollar bill from the United States is depicted in this illustration photo. 1st of June 2017. Thomas White/Thomas White/Thomas White/Thomas White/Thomas White/Thomas White/Thomas White/ (Source: Reuters) According to data released on Monday by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, federal aid granted as part of the CARES Act improved U.S. households’ ability to pay their expenses after becoming unemployed, with lower-income households benefiting the most. With the help of enhanced unemployment benefits and direct cash payments delivered as part of the relief bill passed in March 2020 to support the economy through the COVID-19 pandemic, the median household would have been able to maintain spending for an additional 15 weeks after losing employment income. The study indicated that low-income households were able to maintain their spending for 43 weeks longer after losing their jobs with the help than they could have without it. The benefits contributed a median of seven weeks of spending to higher-income households. Increased unemployment benefits had the greatest influence on “household resilience,” or people’s capacity to maintain paying their obligations after losing their job income. They discovered that the supplement, which added $600 per week to state unemployment benefits from mid-April through July 2020, accounted for 85 percent of the difference for lower-income households. Unemployment benefits provided 19 weeks of resilience to black and Hispanic households, compared to 18 weeks for white and Asian ones. Although households in the South and Midwest were less financially equipped to deal with job loss than those in the Northeast and West, the CARES Act helped to close some of the gaps. Using census bureau data, the study looked at a sample of 10,613 heads of household and their wives. It did not take into account the assistance offered after the CARES Act expired, which included increased direct cash transfers and the continuation of improved unemployment benefits. Jonnelle Marte contributed reporting, and Kevin Liffey edited the piece./n
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