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FAI In the News: Those Who Most Need The $1,200 Stimulus Checks May Wait the Longest (Time)

From the article: 

On March 27, President Trump signed a $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package that includes the direct infusion of cash to the majority of Americans…. The provision stipulates that any American with a Social Security number who isn’t considered someone else’s dependent and makes up to $75,000 will receive a payment of $1,200.…

People without bank accounts — the “unbanked,” as they’re known — are often among the poorest. Roughly 53% of people without bank accounts say they don’t have them because they “do not have enough money to keep in an account,” according to a 2017 FDIC survey. That means that the unbanked are the most in need of a direct stimulus check, but will be the last ones who actually receive it. “This particular element is going to hit lower income people much more than higher income people,” says Jonathan Morduch, the executive director of NYU’s Financial Access Initiative. “They really have a double whammy—their incomes are being hit, and also the mechanism to help them is going to take longer.”

Source:  Abby Vesoulis, Time Magazine, Published April 1, 2020.