No, Social Security recipients are not receiving federal stimulus checks in 2024

Social Security benefits provide people with an income when they can’t retire or are unable to work due to disability.

In January 2024, the average monthly payment for seniors receiving Social Security retirement benefits was around $1,900. But some VERIFY readers who receive these benefits are wondering if extra money is on the way. 

At least five people have asked the team whether Social Security recipients will receive stimulus checks from the federal government in 2024, as a viral YouTube video and some online articles’ headlines claim.

THE QUESTION

Are Social Security recipients receiving federal stimulus checks in 2024?

THE SOURCES

• Spokesperson for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
• Spokesperson for the U.S. Treasury Department
• AARP

THE ANSWER

No, Social Security recipients are not receiving federal stimulus checks in 2024. 

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WHAT WE FOUND

The federal government is not issuing a new round of stimulus checks for any Americans, including Social Security recipients, in 2024.

A spokesperson for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) told VERIFY “there are no stimulus payments or anything similar” that are due to go out this year. 

In response to a question about stimulus checks specifically for Social Security recipients, a spokesperson for the U.S. Treasury Department also said “ there are no new stimulus payments like that described.”

False claims that new stimulus checks are on the way are due in part to a growth in content created by generative artificial intelligence (AI), McKenzie Sadeghi, AI and foreign influence editor for NewsGuard, told AARP. 

Sadeghi told AARP these articles about imminent stimulus checks are a staple of “content farms,” which are “supposed news sites that regurgitate dubious information and often rely on AI-generated articles with little or no human oversight.”

The articles that falsely claim a fourth stimulus check is on the way are “hoaxes aimed at generating clicks and getting people to the site,” she added. 

For any Americans to receive another stimulus check, Congress would have to pass legislation authorizing the payment and President Biden would need to sign it into law. But that hasn’t happened. 

The previous three stimulus checks were part of legislation that was passed by Congress and signed by the sitting president. The first check for $1,200 was part of the CARES Act passed in March 2020. The second check for $600 was part of a spending package that was passed in December 2020. The third check for $1,400 was included in the American Rescue Plan passed in March 2021.

Anyone who did not receive one or more of the original federal stimulus payments can still try to claim them. To receive a missing stimulus payment, taxpayers need to file a tax return for either 2020 or 2021, or both, and claim the Recovery Rebate Credit. But this isn’t a fourth stimulus check.

Sadeghi also provided some some signs of AI-generated content, like some of the false articles about stimulus checks, to AARP: 

• Inconsistent information: AI-generated articles “often contain contradictions or conflicting info,” or even error messages, Sadeghi says.
• Repetition: Content farm articles will often repeat a key phrase like “stimulus checks” dozens of times.
• No attribution: “We’ll see a lot of missing citations,” Sadeghi says. “None of the information is credited anywhere.”
• Lack of transparency: Does the story have a byline or any way to verify the writer’s identity? Does the site disclose information about who is behind it?