4th Stimulus Payment of $1,400 Not Off the Table Entirely Thanks to Inflation
Written by
Georgina Tzanetos
Edited by
Cory Dudak
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Nonpartisan advocacy group The Seniors Citizens League (TSCL) is petitioning Congress to issue a fourth round of stimulus checks — but just for seniors.
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TSCL is a group that advocates for senior citizen benefits like increased Social Security and Medicare benefits. Most recently, they’ve called for an increase of 6% to the Cost Of Living Adjustment in monthly Social Security benefits, arguing that the rise in inflation made current fixed income benefits unsustainable.
The newest petition calling for additional stimulus payments reads: “I (and/or my spouse) want Social Security recipients to receive a $1,400 emergency stimulus check to cope during this unprecedented inflationary year. Social Security benefits are one of the few types of income in retirement adjusted for inflation. But soaring inflation has taken a toll on household finances of retired and disabled Social Security recipients.”
Conversely: Why Inflation’s 6% Cost-of-Living Increase to Social Security Could Be a Double-Edged Sword
They added that in 2021, benefits increased by just 1.3%, which only raised the average benefit by about $20 a month. Roughly 86% of Social Security recipients surveyed said their expenses increased by much more than that amount.
See: Owe Back Taxes? The IRS Is Cracking Down by Restarting Tax LeviesFind: The Average Social Security Check the Year You Were Born
The group plans to use responses from this petition to help urge Congress to give additional payments. The payments will be seen as a way to supplement money lost during the pandemic to inflation, as Social Security benefit checks decreased in value as inflation kept surging.
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Last updated: September 10, 2021
