Direct answer: There were three rounds of federal stimulus checks issued in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Details:
- Round 1 (CARES Act, March 2020): Up to $1,200 per eligible adult, plus $500 per qualifying child. This round reached roughly 160 million households. If you need a precise total of payments or amounts, I can pull the latest official figures.
- Round 2 (COVID relief package, December 2020–January 2021): Up to $600 per eligible individual or couple, plus $600 per qualifying child in the larger families. This round delivered a large portion of payments between late December 2020 and January 2021.
- Round 3 (American Rescue Plan, March 2021): Up to $1,400 per eligible adult, plus $1,400 per qualifying dependent; caps phased out at higher income levels.
Overall totals cited by official and reputable sources place the combined value of all three rounds at about $271–$411 billion in direct payments to individuals, depending on the measurement (payments issued, total dollars, and eligible populations) and whether dependent payments are included. Estimates of the number of individual payments issued across all three rounds are generally in the vicinity of 160–168 million payments, varying slightly by source and methodology. If you’d like, I can provide a precise, source-cited breakdown with exact figures by round and the corresponding payment counts.
