How does the Social Security Fairness Act affect my retirement, survivor, and disability benefits?

The Social Security Fairness Act changes some rules that affect how much money people get from Social Security. These rules are called the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). Before these changes, these rules made Social Security payments smaller for people who also get a pension from certain government jobs that didn’t pay into Social Security.

Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP)

The WEP made Social Security payments smaller for people who get a pension from a job where they didn’t pay Social Security taxes, like some government jobs. This rule was made to stop people from getting extra money from Social Security if they also have a pension from a job that didn’t pay into it. For example, if someone worked part of their career in a job that paid Social Security taxes and part in a job that didn’t, the WEP reduced their Social Security benefits to account for the pension from the non-covered job. But if they worked 30 or more years in jobs that did pay Social Security taxes, the WEP didn't apply.

Government Pension Offset (GPO)

The GPO made Social Security payments smaller for people who get a government pension and also qualify for benefits like spousal or survivor benefits. It reduced these benefits by two-thirds of the amount of the government pension. For example, if someone gets a government pension of $600 per month, their Social Security spousal benefits would be reduced by $400 per month. This rule was made to make sure people who didn’t pay into Social Security don’t get full benefits along with their government pension.

The Social Security Fairness Act Repealed the Windfall Elimination Provision (WPE) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) 

The Social Security Fairness Act was signed into law on January 5, 2025, making it so that the WEP and GPO no longer apply. The Social Security Fairness Act also applied retroactively to January 2024. This means that any benefits that were reduced from January 2024, would be restored to the full benefit amount. Also, the Social Security Administration will begin issuing checks to people whose benefits were reduced for the benefits that should have been paid from January 2024, onward.

Example of a Texas Teacher

Imagine a teacher in Texas. They get a pension from the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) because they didn’t pay Social Security taxes while teaching. But they also worked another job where they did pay Social Security taxes. Because of the WEP and before the Social Security Fairness Act, their Social Security benefits from the other job were reduced. If they qualify for spousal or survivor benefits, the GPO would reduce those benefits too, unless they meet certain conditions.

The Social Security Fairness Act got rid of these rules. Now people like the Texas teacher would get their full Social Security benefits along with their government pensions.