The third spherical of stimulus checks helped, however hundreds of thousands are nonetheless struggling

While the number of Americans struggling to put groceries on the table and pay bills fell last month, new data shows millions are still feeling the financial ramifications of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The third round of stimulus payments began on March 12th in the bank accounts. Therefore, it is not surprising that the number of Americans who failed to meet household expenses at the end of March fell from 33.8% to 28.9% from March 17-29, according to the latest data from the US Census Bureau.

The number of Americans who sometimes or often do not have enough to eat also decreased from 10.7% to 8.8%.

That still leaves around 18 million adults hungry, a number far higher than the number of Americans who reported they didn’t have enough to eat before the pandemic began in 2019, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

“While the latest numbers are a welcome improvement, they show that many Americans will need more help to get out of debt and get the nation back into pre-pandemic distress – let alone achieve a fairer recovery that is emerging decreased. ” Toughness continues, “writes Claire Zippel, Senior Research Analyst at CBPP.

In many cases, Americans are still facing financial hardship because households are not making the same amount as they were before the pandemic, in part due to unemployment, vacation time, and wage cuts. Approximately 54 million Americans say they don’t use regular sources of income such as paychecks, extra income, or rental income to cover their weekly expenses.

Instead, millions have turned to borrowing, according to the CBPP.

About 50 million Americans reported using credit cards or loans to cover their expenses. About 20 million say they have borrowed money from family or friends. Although these two groups overlap, it adds up to a total of about 34 million adults who say they took out some type of loan in the last month to get by, the CBPP said.

Those who borrow to stay afloat financially often have children and are renters. In addition, a higher percentage of black, Latin American, and Asian adults borrow than their white counterparts.

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