$600 stimulus didn’t last for hard-hit Myrtle Beach residents. Is $1400 more enough?
Marissa Nave was lucky enough to hold onto a job when the pandemic hit last spring, but like millions across the country, her income took a serious hit. Working a commission-based job at a mortgage company, she felt the effects of a hemorrhaging economy.
When the latest $600 stimulus check popped up in her bank account, it didn’t stay there for long.
“We woke up, checked the banks, it was there and it was gone within five minutes or so,” said Nave, 26. “We made sure we were paying off things because we’ve had late payments and things that usually didn’t happen before.”
The Socastee resident and her husband Jake, a plumber, received $1,200 between the two of them in the latest round of checks. But it was a drop in the ocean compared to the nearly $20,000 they had racked up in credit card debt as a result of their suffering income.
“As much as we’re thankful for it, because of course that’s $1,200 we didn’t have … it’s still pretty overwhelming to look and see [that] I’m still like $17,856 in debt,” she said.
Stimulus can’t cover one month’s rent in Myrtle Beach
The Myrtle Beach area has a lower overall cost of living than the rest of the country, but for many suffering financially, the check still wasn’t enough.
President-elect Joe Biden unveiled a $1.9 trillion stimulus plan Thursday, which includes $1,400 checks and expanded unemployment benefits, showing potential to help residents in the Myrtle Beach area cover more of their expenses.
With an incoming Democrat-controlled Congress, a more expansive package could be on the way, leaving many Americans hoping for larger checks.
But for now, they only have an extra $600 to work with. That’s not enough to cover a two-bedroom apartment in the area, according to the latest data from the quarterly Cost of Living Index, published by the Council for Community and Economic Research. In Myrtle Beach, one-bedroom apartments generally can reach $650-1,000 per month.
It’s not unique to Myrtle Beach, where the average rent in the index is $814. The index includes the Columbia, Charleston and Hilton Head Island areas along with nearly 300 other metropolitans.
The $600 check could cover the average rent in only nine of them, including Florence, Ala. and Kalamazoo, Mich. None of the cities where rent was below $600 were in South Carolina or rivaled Myrtle Beach in overall cost of living.
The index compiles and compares the cost of living, including common grocery items, housing, utilities and entertainment, in cities around the country to come up with a national average. Overall, the cost of living in the Myrtle Beach area was 7.3% below the national average, with housing cost falling far below the national rate, but things like utilities and transportation tracked above the rest of the country.
While some treat themselves, others pay off bills
Of the people who have already received their stimulus check, some are spending it on a king-size bed. Others can afford to treat themselves to all-you-can-eat sushi. But the common refrain is that the extra cash is going directly toward necessary expenses: rent, food, hospital bills and car insurance.
Pam Moore, a high school teacher and bartender who lives in North Myrtle Beach, directed the money toward hospital bills lingering from a surgery she had in the fall. It only covered a few of them, and she still has other medical needs she can’t afford right now, even with the $600 boost.
“I need another crown on my tooth, it’s been cracked, it’s been broken, it’s been hurting,” Moore, 62, said. . “I can’t afford it right now because I need to get all this other stuff paid off first.”
There’s a reason this income is called a “stimulus” — it’s partially meant to stimulate local economies during the crisis. But with residents struggling to cover food, rent and other necessities, there’s not always anything left over to spend at local businesses.
“Before, it would be nice to go get takeout and it’s just not even something we think about anymore,” Nave said. “Well, you know, we’re going to eat peanut butter and jelly and ramen and grilled cheese [to save money].”
But for some, the stimulus check was a welcome bonus to put toward a long-term dream or something fun. Patricia D’Ascoli, a retired writer and teacher who moved to Myrtle Beach shortly before the pandemic hit in March, recognizes that she’s one of the lucky ones.
“Probably a lot of people would be saying ‘I’m going to pay my bills’ or whatever,” she said. “I consider myself in a fortunate position and I kind of viewed it as something that we could use to do different or fun things.”
D’Ascoli, 57, is planning to use her $600 on a website to kick-start her freelance writing in the area and hopes to lease horses to ride with her husband for a COVID-safe retirement activity.
Tourism and hospitality workers among hardest hit
Myrtle Beach’s typically thriving tourism industry bottomed out when the fear of spreading the virus caused statewide lockdowns. Hourly workers at restaurants, bars, hotels and retail shops are among the hardest hit, even as businesses reopen and the pandemic drags on.
“If there are no jobs available, they’ve lost their livelihood, and that’s really important,” said Michael Horrigan, president of the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
Of the total employment loss due to the pandemic, 64% was in the low-wage category, which includes many jobs in the hospitality industry, according to data compiled by Upjohn. Horrigan said it’s important to consider the expanded unemployment benefits and understand that the stimulus check wasn’t meant to be an income replacement, rather a supplement.
Even without the pandemic, workers in Myrtle Beach face staggering housing costs compared to the average income in the area. The city is working on a plan to house the hospitality and city workforce at an affordable rate. But that’s not an immediate fix, as units won’t be ready for move-in until 2022 at the earliest.
What if it was a $2,000 check?
The $600 checks distributed to millions could have been much larger and gone much further. As Congress debated the relief package late last year, $2,000 checks were on the table but ultimately didn’t come to fruition. While $2,000 wouldn’t solve all the problems facing locals, it would have been a step in the right direction, they say.
The $2,000 check could have covered two months of rent at the average price in the Myrtle Beach area, with a bit leftover for other expenses.With Biden’s plan showing potential to fill the $1,400 gap between the proposed stimulus check and the $600 reality, local residents are holding out a bit of hope.
“I do think that will be such a relief and weight lifted off of a bunch of people’s shoulders,” Nave said. “Despite the things that have happened in the past, I feel more hopeful about this with Biden.”
For Moore, the difference between the $600 check and the $2,000 check would have been nothing to scoff at.
“If it was a $2,000 check, I would have some in savings by now,” she said. “I’ve already wiped out my savings this past year. I could replenish some of my savings, I could finish paying off the doctor bills I have.”
This story was originally published January 15, 2021 at 1:45 PM.
