Income, Liquidity, and the Consumption Response to the 2020 Economic Stimulus Payments

In response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the US government brought about a collection of fiscal stimulus measures: the 2020 CARES Act. We study direct payments to households starting in April 2020 using high-frequency transaction data. We explore the response of household spending to these stimulus payments in the short run as well as heterogeneity by income levels, recent income declines, and liquidity. We find that households respond rapidly to receipt of stimulus payments, with spending increasing by $0.25-$0.35 per dollar of stimulus during the first 10 days. Households with lower incomes, greater income drops, and lower levels of liquidity see higher responses. Liquidity plays the most important role, with no observed spending response for households with high levels of available cash on hand. Relative to the effects of previous economic stimulus programs in 2001 and 2008, we see much smaller increases in durables spending and larger increases in spending on food, likely reflecting the impact of shelter-in-place orders and supply disruptions. In turn, we discuss the fiscal stimulus and multiplier effects that may result from these payments.