On January 5, 2025, the Social Security Fairness Act was signed into law, eliminating the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) for approximately 3.2 million individuals who receive a pension from jobs that did not pay into Social Security. But when will these beneficiaries start seeing an increase in their payments?
Implementation Challenges
The Social Security Administration (SSA) is still developing an implementation strategy that minimizes disruptions to its daily operations. Since the law is retroactive to January 1, 2025, the SSA must adjust both past and future benefits for millions of recipients. Due to the complexity of these calculations, much of the process must be handled manually on a case-by-case basis, which adds significant delays.
Funding and Staffing Shortages
One major hurdle is that the Social Security Fairness Act does not include additional funding for implementation. This means the SSA must manage this massive new workload without hiring more staff, despite already facing a staffing shortage and hiring freeze. Currently, more than 7,000 people call the SSA daily regarding the new law, and that number is expected to grow. Given these limitations, the agency estimates it could take over a year to complete the benefit adjustments and process retroactive payments.
Who Will See an Impact?
While the Act is expected to increase benefits for some teachers, firefighters, and police officers, it’s important to note that about 72% of state and local public employees already pay into Social Security and will not be affected.
For those who never applied for spousal or survivor benefits due to the significant reductions imposed by WEP and GPO, it may now be time to apply, as you could be eligible for a full benefit under the new law.
Estimating Your Benefit Increase
There is no single formula for determining how much your monthly benefit will increase. The final amount depends on factors such as:
- The type of Social Security benefit you receive
- The size of your pension
- Your prior earnings history
Some beneficiaries may see only a modest increase, while others could receive $1,000 or more per month in additional benefits. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that repealing WEP and GPO will cost $196 billion between 2024 and 2034, potentially accelerating Social Security’s insolvency by six months.
To stay informed on updates, visit SSA’s official website.
