The Current | Vol. 31 Issue 27

March 23, 2021 | nsucurrent.nova.edu 5 Features Important developments in the 2021 federal relief package On March 9, the Biden administration’s first stimulus package was formally approved. This federal relief package provided continued unemployment benefits, money to local and state governments to combat COVID-19 and aid in vaccinations and gave citizens a third round of stimulus checks. This relief bill was the first to make stimulus checks available to young adults and people over the age of 17 who were claimed as dependents on their parents’ 2019 or 2020 federal taxes. This is good news for a lot of college students, but it can be hard to understand the relief package and find out where your stimulus check is headed. Here’s some highlights of the bill, according to the official Congress website, and a brief explanation as to where your stimulus check is. $1,400 stimulus checks Dependents above the age of 17 who missed out on the last two stimulus checks are now qualified for the $1,400 stimulus check this round. However, for those who were claimed as a dependent, the $1,400 was added in with the parents’ or legal guardian’s stimulus check. There are a few tricks to this system; while many people are qualifying as dependents because of their 2019 taxes, if your 2020 taxes were filed as an independent and they were officially processed, you may receive your own stimulus check. Similarly, if your parents did not claim you as a dependent on their already processed 2020 taxes, you may be eligible for your own stimulus check. While many people have already begun to receive their checks, if you haven’t received yours and believe you are eligible, you can check out the official payment tracker on the IRS website. Money provided to state governments to fight COVID-19 In total, nearly $48 billion were allocated for states to fund testing, research and diagnostic measurements regarding COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 infections. This amount of money will be provided to states for use until it runs out. The goal of these funds is to establish stronger plans to contact infected citizens, as well as contact tracing for those who were exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19. In addition to the $48 billion allocated for testing, $7.5 billion were granted for vaccination sites to help give more vaccinations to more of the population. Sofia Gallus Arts&Entertianment Editor Continued support for those who are unemployed The boost to federal unemployment programs would continue part way through September. The unemployment boost is an addition of $300 to weekly payments, which was proposed and passed late last year. This weekly boost was proposed to continue throughout most of 2021 and was passed in this relief package. Money allocated for healthcare workers mental health resources $80 million was granted to provide training and relief to healthcare workers who may be struggling with additional stress due to their increased work during the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of this funding is to focus especially on underserved and overworked communities and community healthcare workers who may be struggling. Equal Pay Day and the U.S. gender wage gap As Women’s History Month comes to a close, it is important to focus on the progress society has made with women’s civil rights. However, we cannot deter from the fact that there is a long way to go before true equality. One example of this inequality between men and women we can see every day in is the gender wage gap. The gender wage gap refers to the difference in earnings between women and men. This gap has been calculated in numerous ways by a variety of organizations with varying results, all of which have the same general consensus that women consistently earn less than men, with a wider gap for women of color. According to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau Data from 2019, on average, a full-time working woman earns 82 cents for every dollar earned by a man working under the same conditions. If you look at this number timewise, on a typical 9-5 workday, women start working for free at around 2:40 p.m. Despite this gap being a glaring problem within our country, this statistic has made little progress in the past half-decade, with a decrease of only 7 cents since 2015 and no decrease within the past year. All Women’s Equal Pay Day falls on March 24 this year, and the date is much more symbolic than meets the eye. Started by the National Committee of Pay Equity in 1996, Equal Pay Day denotes how far into the new year women must work to be paid what men were paid the previous year. Despite this unfortunate statistic caused by discrimination, progress is still being made. Last year, the United Nations celebrated the first International Equal Pay Day on Sept. 18 to represent the longstanding efforts toward equal pay for work of equal value. In addition, in 2016, the Pay Equity for All Act amended the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 Rick Esner News Editor to prohibit employers from seeking or requiring previous wage information from job applicants. There is still a long fight to be made to close this wage gap and stop discrimination of women in the workforce. Throughout the pandemic, we have learned how important online communication can be. So, for this Equal Pay Day, take to the internet and express your discontent for the wage gap. For more information on the wage gap, you can check out the Equity National Committee on Pay Equity or the Equal Pay Today Campaign w ebsites. With permission to print from A. Kurzweil Since its establishment, other Equal Pay Days have been added to the calendar in order to represent other minority women populations and the gap they experience. This includes Asian American and Pacific Islander Equal Pay Day on March 9, Black Women’s Equal Pay Day on Aug. 3, Native Women’s Equal Pay Day on Sept. 8 and Latina’s Equal Pay Day on Oct. 21, with a staggering 55 cents for every dollar paid to white men.