
How Did U.S. Consumers Use Their Stimulus Payments? - harias
https://bfi.uchicago.edu/working-paper/2020-109/
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harias
Abstract:

Using a large-scale survey of U.S. consumers, we study how the large one-time
transfers to individuals from the CARES Act affected their consumption, saving
and labor-supply decisions. Most respondents report that they primarily saved
or paid down debts with their transfers, with only about 15 percent reporting
that they mostly spent it. When providing a detailed breakdown of how they
used their checks, individuals report having spent or planning to spend only
around 40 percent of the total transfer on average. This relatively low rate
of spending out of a one-time transfer is higher for those facing liquidity
constraints, who are out of the labor force, who live in larger households,
who are less educated and those who received smaller amounts. We find no
meaningful effect on labor-supply decisions from these transfer payments,
except for twenty percent of the unemployed who report that the stimulus
payment made them search harder for a job.

