We study the links between fiscal stimulus packages during times of crisis and households' liabilities. We do so by using household-level data on income and liabilities from the Consumer Expenditure Survey, and estimating an empirical model along those in the literature on the consumption effects of these packages. We find that receiving a check from the government tends to translate into a reduction in outstanding liabilities for American households. This effect is robust to controlling for income levels and household size. The effects are driven by households whose income is below the median and by those who remain employed during the crisis.

中文翻译：

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财政刺激方案对家庭债务意味着什么？

我们研究了危机时期财政刺激方案与家庭负债之间的联系。为此，我们使用消费者支出调查中有关收入和负债的家庭层面数据，并根据文献中关于这些一揽子计划消费影响的经验模型估算实证模型。我们发现，收到政府的支票往往会转化为美国家庭未偿债务的减少。这种影响对于控制收入水平和家庭规模是稳健的。这些影响是由收入低于中位数的家庭和在危机期间仍在工作的家庭造成的。