Author: Aries Smith
Undeniably, the COVID-19 pandemic made countless people suffer in financial aspects. Sadly, Americans are not exempted from the crisis, especially the low-income earners. For that reason, Congress passed the CARES Act to aid Americans who need financial assistance.
This article is written to educate you about the CARES Act and how you can benefit from it.
What is the CARES Act?
In year 2020, American Congress passed the CARES Act to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic — a health crisis that surprisingly resulted in economic suspension and rocketing unemployment. Under the CARES Act or the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, the government allotted $2 trillion to improve the lives of Americans during the pandemic.
Besides that, part of the allotted money which was about $14 billion, went to Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF).
More importantly, the CARES Act focused on other basic and most critical components of household welfare: the economic impact payments, the paycheck protection program, expanded unemployment insurance and waiving tax penalties on retirement account withdrawals.
Let’s dig deeper into the benefits of the bill below.
Other benefits of the CARES Act
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Unemployment insurance
Aside from the $600 boost in unemployment, the CARES Act also offers additional benefits to Americans who became unemployed because of the pandemic.
First, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance provides benefits to workers who are not eligible for unemployment insurance, such as freelancers, self-employed, and gig workers.
On the other hand, other unemployed Americans received aid under the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation.
Above all, Americans can choose what bills they want to prioritize paying temporarily.
—-See existing benefits and how you can apply—-
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Ban on Evictions
Under the CARES Act, tenants can stay in their place even if they can’t afford to pay rent on time. Since most of these tenants became unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they are protected. Tenants can talk to their landlords and ask for an extension of the grace period in paying rent to prevent eviction.
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Pause on Student Loan Payments
This benefit is still related to the unemployment that happened because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since there is no source of income, the Act imposed a pause on paying without penalties.
Controversies about the CARES Act
- The Act doesn’t cover any durable economic recovery and even creates distorted economic incentives for the unemployed.
- It might be better if the bill targeted support workers who are more exposed to the COVID-19.
- Direct assistance must be more focused on the most affected Americans.
Takeaway
COVID-19 pandemic has been an unexpected enemy of everyone. It gave way to the passing of the CARES Act when the need for the government’s support was great. Even though the bill did not reach the most affected Americans, it was still a great emergency solution that benefited many Americans in some aspects, primarily financially.