For a long time, government employees have claimed that Social Security was not fair to them, that they were penalized because they worked for the government. That’s because of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO).
In 1977, the Government Pension Offset (GPO) became law. It was designed to keep the Social Security system healthy by reducing benefits paid to a spouse or surviving spouse who collected benefits from a non-covered pension. That’s a pension received from an employer that did not withhold Social Security taxes from the employee’s salary.
In the 1980s, the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) was passed as a way to save money for the Social Security system. WEP reduced Social Security benefits for some workers who received government pensions not covered by Social Security. It was also meant to correct a glitch in the benefits formula that treated government employees, who may have contributed to the system for only a few years, as low-wage workers. As a result, those public employees received a disproportionately large Social Security benefit — plus their government pension.
WEP and GPO reduced or eliminated Social Security benefits of more than 3.2 million people who receive a pension based on work for which no Social Security taxes were paid. Because of the Social Security Fairness Act that became law in January 2025, people who receive a pension from the government can now collect full Social Security benefits as well as their pension, people like:
- teachers, firefighters, and police officers
- federal employees covered by the Civil Service Retirement System
- people whose work had been covered by a foreign social security system
According to the SSA, about 72% of state and local public employees currently work in Social Security-covered employment, so they won’t be affected by SSFA. It’s only retirees, their spouses or surviving spouses who receive pension benefits based on non-covered work. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) that’s approximately 2.1 million retirees or 3% of current Social Security beneficiaries. Spouses and surviving spouses make up another 770,000 people who are included.
What does it all mean?
According to the CBO, the average, public sector retiree can expect an increase in monthly benefits of $360 in December 2025, which will reach $460 by December 2033.
Spouses will get an average monthly increase of $700 and surviving spouses $1190 by December 2025 which is expected to increase to $860 and $1,520, respectively, in December 2033.
What’s next?
If you’re retired and have never applied for benefits, you’ll need to file an application to get things rolling. But keep in mind that all other Social Security regulations, such as reductions for claiming benefits before the full retirement age (FRA), and the annual earnings test, still apply.
If you’re waiting to file for Social Security benefits between FRA and age 70 in order to earn delayed credits, there’s nothing you have to do. Everything will be automatic at that time.
The easiest way to apply for Social Security benefits in online at ssa.gov. But for SSFA applications, SSA will take them by phone for people who did not previously apply for retirement benefits because of WEP or GPO. Call 1-800-772-1213 Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET. When the automated attendant asks, “How can I help you today?”, say “Fairness Act.” You will then be asked a few questions and those answers will help the SSA connect you to a WEP-GPO trained representative to take your claim.
If you have previously applied for benefits as a worker, spouse or surviving spouse you don’t have to do anything. As long as you have your current mailing address and direct deposit information on file, the SSA has everything it needs to notify you and disburse your retroactive benefits.
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