Heterogeneity in the Marginal Propensity to Consume: Evidence from Covid-19 Stimulus Payments

This report tracks consumer spending patterns in the weeks after receiving federal stimulus payments using debit card data for more than 16,000 recipients. Consumers who live paycheck-to-paycheck spent 68% of the funds in the first two weeks, while higher-income consumers and those who generally save a significant portion of their income spent an average of 23% in the same time period.