OPINION
By Jessika Fulton, Staff Reporter
COVID-19 has been a burden on many Americans over the last month; however. President Trump tried to offer a solution.
He declared a $2 trillion federal stimulus and aid package. The bill would provide direct payments of up to $1,200 to individual taxpayers, $2,400 for married couples, plus $500 for every eligible child 17 and under. That leaves out any individual who is 18 or over and is still being claimed as a dependent. In other words, most traditional college students.
For government officials to claim that they want to offer relief for anyone going through hardships right now is ironic, especially since they’re missing one of the largest demographics.
As of 2018, thebalance.com reported that 52.7% of Americans are claimed as dependents.
People of average college age or right before or after college are facing significant job loss.
According to the Pew Research Center, young people aged 16 to 24 will be hit harder by the COVID-19 layoffs, meaning that the majority of the out-of-work population is college students who are now jobless and struggling to make ends meet. Whether it be bills or paying for college itself, college students need assistance. We are having to make ends meet by the skin of our teeth.
I work as a photography assistant at a locally owned studio. When every business that was considered nonessential was ordered to close, we were hit hard. Our printers closed and I lost my source of income.
Since my mother claimed me as a dependent, however, I don’t qualify for the grant. While I am grateful that I am also a student worker for Amarillo College and still receive a small portion of income, it is still not enough to pay 100 percent of my bills. I’ll be lucky if it makes a dent.
If you are going to offer a relief grant, make it applicable for all needs. Not just some of those in the working class.
For us to get the proper assistance we need, we need to work together as a community and figure a way to show why the biggest demographic deserves relief. We need help in this time of disaster and fear. The only way to make a difference is if we bond together and tackle it as a team.
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