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The article reports on social security coverage of local government and state employees in the U.S. Topics discussed include the beneficiaries of social security, the source of funding for the social security program of the federal government, the expansion of coverage under the program by the U.S. Congress, the debate on proposals to make social security coverage for state and local government employees, and major categories of work not covered by the program.

The article offers information about the poverty status of the aged population in the United States. While the poverty rate among individuals aged 65 and older has declined significantly over the past five decades, the number of aged poor has increased due to the growing population of older individuals. The passage also touches on demographic characteristics that affect poverty among the aged, federal programs available to the aged poor, and the impact of income sources on poverty.

The article discusses the windfall elimination provision (WEP) of the Social Security federal insurance program in the U.S. Under the program, workers and their qualified family members will receive cash benefits during a worker's retirement, disability or death. The WEP reduces the benefits of certain disabled or retired workers if they are also receiving pension benefits. Also cited are the proposals to abolish WEP or replace it with one that benefits both covered and noncovered employment.

Social Security auxiliary benefits are paid to the spouse, former spouse, survivor, child, or parent of a Social Security-covered worker and are equal to a specified percentage of the worker's basic monthly benefit amount (subject to a maximum family benefit amount). For example, the spouse of a retired worker may receive up to 50% of the retired worker's basic benefit and the widow(er) of a retired worker may receive up to 100% of the retired worker's basic benefit. When auxiliary benefits were first established, most households consisted of a single earnerâ€" usually the husbandâ€"and a wife who cared for children and remained out of the paid workforce. As a result, benefits for nonworking spouses were structured to be relatively generous. A woman who was never employed but is married to a man with high Social Security-covered wages may receive a Social Security spousal benefit that is higher than the retirement benefit received by a single woman, or a divorced woman who was married less than 10 years, who worked a full career in a low-wage job. In recent decades, this household structure has changed in part because women have entered the workforce in increasing numbers. The labor force participation rate of women with children under the age of 18 increased from 47.4% in 1975 to 72.4% in 2019. As a result, many women now qualify for Social Security benefits based on their own work records. Women are, however, more likely than men to take breaks in employment to care for family members, which can result in fewer years of contributions to Social Security and employer-sponsored pension plans. Beneficiaries who qualify for multiple benefits do not receive both benefits in full. For example, for a beneficiary eligible for his or her own retired-worker benefits as well as spousal benefits, the spousal benefit is reduced by the amount of the retired-worker benefit. The beneficiary receives a reduced spousal benefit (if not reduced to zero) in addition to his or her retired-worker benefit. This effectively means the beneficiary receives the higher of the two benefit amounts. Because of this, a two-earner household may receive lower total Social Security benefits than a single-earner household with identical total Social Security-covered earnings. Another change since 1939 has been an increase in the number of men and women who remain single or who have divorced. Persons who have never been married, or divorced before 10 years of marriage, generally do not qualify for Social Security spousal or survivors benefits under current law. Proposals to modify the Social Security auxiliary benefit structure are often motivated by a desire to improve adequacy for certain beneficiaries, or equity between a two-earner household and a one-earner household with similar earning profiles. For example, some proposals address the adequacy of benefits for certain groups of beneficiaries, such as elderly and widowed women. Although Social Security plays an important role in the retirement security of aged women, about 14.4% of widowed women aged 65 or older, 15.8% of divorced elderly women, and 16.9% of never-married elderly women had family incomes below the official poverty line in 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social Security is a work-based, federal insurance program that provides income support to workers and their eligible family members in the event of the worker 's retirement, disability, or death. A worker's employment or self-employment is considered covered by Social Security if the services performed in that job result in earnings that are taxable and creditable for program purposes. Although participation in Social Security is compulsory for most workers, about 6% of all workers in paid employment or self-employment are not covered by Social Security. The windf all elimination provision (WEP) is a modified benefit formula that reduces the Social Security benefits of certain retired or disabled workers who are also entitled to pension benefits based on earnings from jobs that were not covered by Social Security and thus not subject to the Social Security payroll tax. Its purpose is to remove an unintended advantage or "windfall" that these workers would otherwise receive as a result of the interaction between the regular Social Security benefit formula and the workers' relatively short careers in Social Security-covered employment. In December 2020, about 1.9 million people (or about 3% of all Social Security beneficiaries) were affected by the WEP. Those workers mainly include state and local government employees covered by alternative staff-retirement systems as well as most permanent civilian federal employees hired before January 1, 1984, who are covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). WEP's supporters argue that the formula is a reasonable means to prevent overgenerous payments and unintended benefits to people who have earnings not covered by Social Security and receive pensions from noncovered work. Opponents argue that the provision substantially reduces a benefit that workers may have included in their retirement plans, and it reduces benefits disproportionately for lower-earning households. Others criticize the current WEP formula as an imprecise way to determine the actual windfall when applied to individual cases. Recent legislation has generally proposed either to eliminate the provision for all or some affected beneficiaries, or replace the current-law provision with a new proportional formula based on past earnings from both covered and noncovered employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an overview of the Government Pension Offset (GPO), a provision designed to reduce the Social Security spousal benefits of individuals in the U.S. who are not financially dependent on their spouses. It discusses the purpose of the Social Security spousal benefits, the Social Security covered and non-covered worker, the GPO formula, and parity between spouses subject to the Dual Entitlement Rule and the GPO.

The article focuses on COVID-19 pandemic and related movement restrictions, social distancing orders, and increases in unemployment and business closures are likely to impact the income assets, and spending among many older Americans. It mentions older workers could take penalty-free withdrawals from retirement savings accounts, such as defined contribution (DC) plans and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). It also mentions disabilities could apply for Social Security Disability Insurance.

The article presents a report of the U.S. Congressional Research Service, based on Social Security's special minimum benefit provision, known as the Special Minimum Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), that is an alternative benefit formula that increases benefits paid to workers who had low earnings. It mentions Social Security also provides auxiliary benefits to eligible family members of a Social Security-insured retired, disabled, or deceased worker.

The article discusses the windfall elimination provision (WEP) of Social Security in the U.S. Topics include income support provided by Social Security to workers and their eligible family members in the event of the worker's retirement, disability, or death; reduction in Social Security benefits under WEP benefit formula for certain retired or disabled workers who are also entitled to pension benefits based on earnings from jobs in the U.S.

The article discusses the social security benefits for spouses and survivors of workers covered by the Social Security program in the U.S. Topics include the history of the auxiliary benefits from the system of Old-Age Insurance program to the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) program, the benefits are based on the benefit amount received by a primary earner or an insured worker, and the role played by spousal and survivors benefits to ensure women's retirement security.

The article presents information on the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), provisions that reduce Social Security benefits for U.S. workers, including their family members, entitled to a pension based on earnings not covered by Social Security. It discusses the legislative history of WEP and GPO, and the number of people affected by WEP and GPO as of December 2020.

The article offers information on the trends of enrollment in the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), a U.S. federal social insurance program for non-elderly disabled workers and their dependents. Several factors affecting SSDI enrollment are discussed including labor force participation of women, change of the full retirement age (FRA), and the national unemployment rate.

The article presents a report by the Congressional Research Service on the Social Security's special minimum benefit provision, also known as the Special Minimum Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) in the U.S. Topics include PIA is stated to be an alternative benefit formula that increases benefits paid to workers who had low earnings for many years, and to their dependents and survivors.

The article presents a report by the Congressional Research Service on the Lump-Sum Death Benefit in the U.S. Topics include Social Security is stated to make a lump-sum death benefit payment of 255 dollars to the eligible surviving spouse or, if there is no spouse, to eligible surviving dependent children, and the benefit equaled 3.5 percent of the worker's covered earnings—those earnings that were subject to the Social Security payroll tax.

The article presents bills introduced during the 116th U.S. Congress in answer to the windfall elimination provision (WEP), a Social Security benefit formula in the U.S.

The article provides information on windfall elimination provision (WEP) and government pension offset (GPO), statutory provision in the U.S. law which reduce regular Social Security benefits for workers and their eligible family members. Topics discussed include estimated number of people affected by the WEP and GPO as of December 2018, and legislative history and rationale of WEP and GPO.

The article offers information on the social security in the U.S. that provides cash benefits to retired or disabled workers and their family members as well as to the family members of deceased workers in a monthly basis. The full retirement age (FRA) of social security refers to the age at which retired workers can first claim full retired-worker benefits. The age distribution of benefit claims along with other factors affecting the ages at which retired workers claim benefits are explored.

The article presents bills in the 115th U.S. Congress related to the windfall elimination provision (WEP), a Social Security benefit formula in the U.S. Topics discussed include background on identical bills H.R. 1205 and S. 915, identical bills both titled the Social Security Fairness Act of 2017, and information on identical bills H.R. 6933 and S. 3526, both titled the Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act of 2018.

The article examines how low-income workers will be affected by the windfall elimination provision (WEP), a Social Security benefit formula in the U.S.

The article reveals the legislative history and rationale for the enactment of the windfall elimination provision (WEP), a Social Security benefit formula in the U.S.

An introduction to a report on Social Security in the U.S., which provides insured employees and their eligible family members with a measure of protection against the loss of income due to the employee's retirement, disability, or death, is presented.