(Photo: filo/Getty Images)
The third round of stimulus checks is making its way into bank accounts. Among those getting them is a small but growing eligibility group, Generation Z.
The typically first-time employees, or tax filers, plan to dole out the money like some who’ve received their first and second payments — on needs, not wants.
Matthew Harvey will be “spending money on basically the essentials, right now.” The 22-year-old journalist at The TRiiBE is in the middle of a move, and the essentials include furniture and groceries.
He is not alone. According to a CNBC survey released in February, a quarter of Gen Z respondents who previously received a stimulus payment spent it on everyday expenses.
Thirteen percent of survey respondents said they used past stimulus dollars toward debt while 20 percent used the money to pay rent or mortgage. The survey also revealed that 8 percent would spend it on “something else.
Another 25% put it in savings, which is exactly what Nyla Brown plans to do.
“At the beginning of the year, I told myself that I had a set goal that I wanted to reach as far as savings go,” said the 23-year-old from Chicago.
Noah Johnson, 23, also plans to save some of it. But the The Chicago Reporter journalist also plans to pay off a portion of student loans. He graduated from Northern Illinois University last year.
A similar survey by YPulse — taken by 16-34-year-olds — revealed their three highest priorities were savings (42%), bills (29%) and paying off debt (28%).
Last year, a 2002-person survey found that 71% of Americans aged 15-29 worried that their generation would not be able to survive an economic downturn without government assistance.