President Joe Biden signed legislation to increase Social Security benefits for public sector workers, including teachers, firefighters, and police officers. The Social Security Fairness Act is the first significant expansion of benefits in two decades, according to the White House.
“This bill ensures that those who have worked hard their entire lives can retire with dignity and financial stability,” said President Biden during the bill signing ceremony. He also highlighted the nearly 90-year history of the Social Security system, which was first implemented by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Maximum Social Security payments in January 2025
While the new increases in Biden’s bill are implemented, the SSA has set a maximum payment of $4,018 for January 2025 for those who started claiming benefits at full retirement age.
The maximum monthly payment is $2,831 for those who retire at age 62, and $5,108 for those who delay retirement until age 70. All of these payments are impacted by the 2.5% cost of living adjustment (COLA), which has been in effect since January.
To receive the latest higher payment, you must meet three criteria: wait until age 70 to claim benefits, work for at least 35 years, and have income that falls within the SSA’s maximum taxable limit.
Increase in payments for retirees
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates significant increases in monthly payments for retirees affected by these provisions. By the end of 2025, those affected by the WEP will see an average monthly increase of $360. Those harmed by the GPO may receive additional compensation ranging from $700 to $1,190, based on their situation.
The increases are subject to regular cost-of-living adjustments (COLA). Additionally, the law allows for retroactive payments starting January 2024, which may require significant administrative changes.
However, it is unclear how the Social Security Administration will implement these changes or whether beneficiaries will have to take additional steps.
There might be implications for Social Security trust funds
The legislation passed the Senate after intense debate over the historical inequalities it would address, but it also raised concerns about the solvency of social security trust funds, which are already at risk of depletion. Key reforms include eliminating the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO).
According to Congressional Research Service data, the GPO reduced payments for approximately 745,000 beneficiaries (1% of the total) in December 2023, while the WEP affected 2.1 million (3% of the total).
What specific historical inequities does the Social Security Equity Act seek to address?
The types of historical inequities that legislation titled the “Social Security Equity Act” (or other proposals advocating for equity in Social Security) typically seek to address are listed below. Because “Social Security Equity Act” has been the name (or, unofficially, nickname) of multiple proposals, the specifics may differ. However, most of these proposals aim to address the following inequities:
Exclusion of early domestic and agricultural workers.
- When the original Social Security Act was passed in 1935, it excluded certain categories of employment — largely agricultural and domestic labor — from coverage.
- At the time, a large proportion of Black workers and other minority workers were employed in these fields, effectively barring them from accumulating Social Security benefits.
The unequal treatment of the public had employees. A separate state pension and system.
The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) reduces Social Security benefits for individuals who also receive a public pension, even if those individuals have Social Security. Local government employees are not required to contribute to and offset Social Security.
Security coverage for other periods of their careers.
- Advocates argue that this disproportionately harms teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public servants, penalizing them unfairly.
Gender disparities and caregiving gaps. - Women are more likely to spend time as caregivers (raising children or supporting aging parents) and have work histories that are interrupted or have fewer total years of coverage.
- Social Security benefits are calculated based on lifetime earnings, so people who have been out of the workforce—disproportionately women—may see their retirement benefits permanently reduced.
- Some equity-focused reforms attempt to recognize these caregiving years or change how benefit calculations work to compensate for unpaid caregiving work.
Lower lifetime earnings for minorities and women.
- Social Security is meant to replace a certain percentage of a worker’s career earnings. If a person’s earnings record was low or sporadic—because of race-based employment discrimination, unequal pay for women, or limited job availability in certain areas—so will their Social Security benefit.
- Some equity-focused legislation has stronger benefit formulas or a more robust minimum benefit to make sure that Restricted workers spousal in and low-wage survivor jobs benefits are for not certain destitute couples.
- In Spousal their and old survivor age. benefits have, at various times, been limited in a way that could exclude divorced spouses, same-sex couples, or others whose relationships do not conform to traditional patterns.
- Various proposals have sought to expand these benefits or simplify their eligibility criteria to make them more inclusive.
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