Every law and provision made should change and update with time, and if not done, then there will always be chaos, and people will rebel against it. The best example of this scenario is the Social Security Fairness Act. So, what exactly is the Social Security Fairness Act? Let’s understand this way.
Suppose you are a government teacher in the USA, and you have dutifully served your time in teaching. As a government employee, you had the benefit of receiving a pension amount, but when you decided to retire, you discovered that your social security benefits were reduced, despite having contributed to them for your entire working years. Sounds unfair, right?
Social Security Fairness Act
There were two provisions that were passed into law in the 1980s by Congress, WEP and GPO, which were introduced to sustain the trust funds of Social Security, and the Social Security Fairness Act was imposed against those provisions. The bill was signed into law on 5th January 2025 by former President Joe Biden.
This amendment will help several government employees, such as firefighters, teachers, and medical workers, who were not treated fairly by the SSA. These provisions reduced their social security benefits despite the regular contributions made throughout their working years.
In this article, we will talk in detail about the former provisions and more about the Social Security Fairness Act (how and who it will affect). If you are an eligible government employee, you may see an increase in your benefit payments.
Social Security Fairness Act 2025: Overview
| Article on | Social Security Fairness Act 2025 |
| Country | U.S.A |
| Department | Social Security Administration (SSA) |
| Beneficiary | Non-covered public sector workers |
| Category | Government aid |
| Official website | ssa.gov |
What are WEP and GPO?
WEP and GPO were two provisions passed into law in the 1980s by the Congress government in the USA to reduce and sustain the funds of the Social Security program. The main motive of these provisions, when imposed, was to slow the depletion of the funds so that these funds could be used for future generations. But these provisions negatively affected many public workers over time.
- WEP – It is the abbreviation for the Windfall Elimination Provision. This provision was used to reduce and even eliminate the benefits of individuals who were working in the public sector. It targeted those public workers who would receive either a government pension or disability benefit from their employer (the organization that does not contribute towards Social Security taxes). And if they want to qualify for the social security benefit taxes, they would need to work for at least 10 years in such an organization that covers the contribution to Social Security.
- GPO – it is the abbreviation for the Government Pension Offset. This provision diminished the benefits of Social Security that were paid to the dependents, like spouses, widows/widowers of public sector employees, if the individual was receiving a non-covered pension from the government.
These provisions were a huge loss to these people and were unfair, too. A question came up in everyone’s mind: why can’t benefits be received if a person works two jobs (apart from the government job)? It is obvious that a person working two jobs is not immune to a good income and wants to earn more to provide for themselves or their family. And if they are working two different jobs, benefits should be given accordingly.
Impact of the Social Security Fairness Act: Who will be affected?
This new law will affect those people who have worked either in the local or state government sectors ( where the social security was not covered) and, along with their public sector job, also had other jobs where they contributed to Social Security.
For example, if a government teacher who was teaching in a junior high school for around 30 years, and sometimes worked part-time in the summers and the part-time job contributed towards social security. Now, before the act was passed, the teacher’s social security benefits would either be reduced or eliminated by the WEP, as they were also receiving a pension from the government. And now, as the law has passed, they will receive full security benefits along with the public pension.
After the law was formed, the SSA outlined the list of those who would be eligible and affected. The list of groups is mentioned below:
- Teachers
- Police Officers
- People who had jobs were there was a foreign social security system.
- Firefighters
- All the federal employees who were under the Civil Service Retirement System.
There is an exception here that not every public worker will be affected by the reform. As per SSA, those individuals who are receiving the government pension (on a job that does not cover Social Security) and working another job that covers Social Security may see a rise in their benefit amount. But according to the data collected, 72% of the public sector workers are contributing towards social security, and they will not be affected or see any increase in their amount.
How much will the increase in Social Security Benefits be?
The SSA had declared that the increase in the benefit amount would vary from individual to individual. The increase may be a small amount or also can be up to $1000. All this will depend on several factors pension amount and the type of social security benefit an individual receives.
There would be tax implications on the social security benefit increase, such as
- As the affected individual will receive an increased payment, they will be included in a higher tax bracket. Thus, paying high-income taxes.
- With the income increases, one could also end up paying high medicare premiums. ( Medicare Part B and D).
Recent Update on Social Security Fairness Act
As per the Department of SSA, the new adjusted payments will be released by November 2025. Until then, if you are one of the affected individuals by the previous provisions, then this is the time to thoroughly go through the amendments made in the law. For detailed information and to know how this will impact your benefit amount, you can always connect to the authorities of the SSA.
| Official Website | Click Here |
| Homepage | blacksea-commission.org |
