A new survey of unemployed Americans found 31% are convinced the fiscal stimulus check promised through the CARES Act will not even get them through one month.
The survey of more than 1,400 adults was conducted by Bankrate.com and found 8% do not believe the stimulus “sustain their financial well-being at all.”
Greg McBride, Bankrate’s chief financial analyst told News 6 despite that finding it is “very evident how many people really need this money.”
“80% of the respondents said it was somewhat or very important to their financial well- being," McBride said. “The uses of this money was for day-to-day essentials and to pay monthly bills.”
Amie Stanley a furloughed restaurant server in Central Florida said her stimulus check is basically spent before it arrives.
“I’ll make it through May 1 beyond that I really don’t know what’s going to happen," Stanley said. “I’ve lost three weeks of pay that’s my savings for the year.”
Stanley, who is a single mother, was furloughed by the restaurant owners the week after St. Patrick’s Day.
Like so many unemployed workers in Florida she still has been unable to connect with the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity’s web site to file for unemployment benefits.
“This week is worse than last week”, she said, “This week I’m trying to go in and claim and I can’t even log on.”
With her 12- year old daughter Rhianna at home attending classes via distance learning Stanely’s job options are very limited.
She found a minimum wage job at McDonald’s but that fell far short of the salary she earned after four years at the restaurant.
“I don’t know when it’s going to be over," Stanley said. "I don’t even know if we’re ever going to go back to normal.”
The survey found that overall, 80% of those who anticipate receiving a payment say it would be either very important (50%) or somewhat important (30%) to their near-term financial situation. Just 12% say it is not very important and 5% say it is not important at all.
For more information on the bankrate.com survey, click here.
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