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Updated February 12, 2019
Social Security Dual Entitlement
Overview
A person may be entitled to multiple benefits at the same
Social Security is a social insurance program that partially
time; the typical example of this is someone who is entitled
replaces income lost due to retirement, disability, or death.
to the retired-worker benefit based on his or her own work
Workers who have been in Social Security covered
record and entitled to an auxiliary benefit based on the
employment (jobs subject to Social Security payroll taxes)
(deceased) spouse’s work record. Beneficiaries cannot
for a sufficient number of years become insured for Social
receive a benefit amount that exceeds the highest single
Security and can receive cash benefits when they retire or
benefit that they are entitled to. Instead, beneficiaries
become disabled. Dependents of insured workers are also
essentially receive the higher of the worker benefit and the
eligible for benefits when the worker retires, becomes
auxiliary benefit. Someone with a retired-worker benefit
disabled, or dies: spouses, former spouses, children,
that is higher than his or her auxiliary benefit receives only
parents, and widow(er)s can receive dependent benefits or
the retired-worker benefit. Someone with an auxiliary
survivors benefits. Dependent and survivors benefits are
benefit higher than his or her retired-worker benefit is
sometimes referred to as auxiliary benefits. Auxiliary
referred to as dually entitled and receives his or her retired-
benefits are equal to a percentage of the insured worker’s
worker benefit plus a reduced auxiliary benefit amount
basic benefit amount, the primary insurance amount (PIA).
equal to the full auxiliary benefit minus the retired-worker
benefit, in essence receiving the higher auxiliary benefit
Beneficiaries entitled to multiple benefits (such as being
amount. Table 1 shows the number of dually entitled
entitled to both retired-worker and spousal benefits) cannot
beneficiaries and their average monthly benefits in
receive all benefits in full. This can lead to inequities
December 2017.
between single-earner and two-earner households. With the
increase in two-earner households, so are concerns about
The current-law auxiliary benefit structure can lead to
the growing prevalence of this inequity.
inequities among households with different earning
profiles, providing proportionally more benefits relative to
Auxiliary Benefits and Dual Entitlement
payroll taxes to single-earner couples than to couples with
Auxiliary benefits are paid to the eligible spouse, former
two-earners, on average. The benefits received by a two-
spouse, and children of retired or disabled workers, and to
earner household can be as little as half of the benefits
survivors (including dependent parents) of deceased
received by a single-earner household, despite identical
workers. Auxiliary benefits are determined as a percentage
household earnings. This is because the second earner’s
of the insured worker’s PIA. Spouses and former spouses
retired-worker benefit offsets the spousal benefit—even
receive up to 50% of the worker’s PIA, and widow(er)s of
though the second earner contributes to household earnings,
deceased workers receive 100% of the worker’s PIA.
he or she might not contribute to the household’s payable
Social Security benefits. A similar inequity can occur for
widow(er) benefits when the primary earner dies.
Table 1. Retired Workers with Dual Entitlement: Number and Average Benefit Levels, December 2017
Average Monthly Benefit
Retired-Worker
Reduced-
Type of Secondary Benefit
Number
Combined Benefit
Benefit
Secondary Benefit
All
7,163,736
$1,261
$715
$546
Spouses
3,135,040
$867
$589
$278
Wives
3,052,136
$869
$589
$279
Husbands
82,904
$799
$583
$217
Widow(er)s
4,028,301
$1,568
$813
$754
Widows
3,875,672
$1,570
$802
$768
Widowers
152,629
$1,511
$1,107
$403
Parents
395
$1,445
$655
$790
Source: SSA, Annual Statistical Supplement, 2018, Table 5.G3, https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/supplement/2018/index.html.
Note: Retired-worker benefit and reduced-secondary benefit might not sum to the combined benefit due to rounding.
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Social Security Dual Entitlement
Comparison of Earnings and Benefits:
work record. Since many women’s retired-worker benefits
Single-Earner Versus Two-Earner Households
were less than their spousal benefits, the share of dually
entitled female beneficiaries has increased, especially
Single-earner
before the mid-2000s. However, the increase in labor force
Household earnings: $50,000
participation of women and improvements in women’s
Annual payroll taxes: $3,100
earnings have led to women’s retired-worker benefits
Monthly benefit: $1,770 worker + $885 spousal =
exceeding spousal benefits. Thus, fewer women are dually
$2,655 total
entitled, and more are entitled based solely on their own
Two-earner
work record in the most recent decade.
Household earnings: $25,000 each ($50,000 total)
Annual payroll taxes: $1,550 each ($3,100 total)
Addressing Auxiliary Benefit Inequities
Monthly benefit: $1,120 worker + $1,120 worker =
There have been several proposals to address inequities
$2,240 total
between single-earner and two-earner households arising
Source: American Academy of Actuaries, Women and Social
from the structure of auxiliary benefits. One proposal is to
Security, Issue Brief, May 2017.
reduce spousal benefits. With a smaller spousal benefit, less
would be lost by the offset from the retired-worker benefit.
Earnings sharing has been another proposal to address
History: Evolution of Dual Entitlement
unequal treatment of one-earner versus two-earner
The Social Security Act, when originally enacted in 1935,
households. Earnings sharing essentially considers the
only contained provisions for retired-worker benefits and
household as the contribution source, as opposed to the
lump-sum death benefits. The Social Security Amendments
worker(s): a couple’s covered earnings would be combined
of 1939 added auxiliary (wife, widow, children, and parent)
and divided evenly between the spouses. The most basic
benefits, to provide “more adequate protection to the family
form of earnings sharing would eliminate spousal and
as a unit” (H.Rept. 76-728, p. 7). Adding supplementary
survivor benefits. A similar proposal that targets inequities
wife benefits to the program came with the understanding
in survivors benefits would set a minimum survivors benefit
that wives would have some work history. The amendments
that is equal to 75% of the couple’s combined monthly
included a provision to offset wife benefits by any retired-
benefit. Under current law, the earnings record (and
worker benefits the wife might be entitled to, based on her
benefits) of the lower-earning spouse “disappears,” and the
own work history. It was argued that these additional
surviving spouse receives benefits based only on the higher-
benefits would have limited program costs: “because most
earning spouse’s earning record. The 75% of combined
wives, in the long run, will build up wage credits on their
benefits “rewards” the second source of earnings.
own account, as a result of their own employment, these
supplementary allowances will add but little to the ultimate
Figure 1. Labor Force Participation, Two-Earner
cost of the system” (H.Rept. 76-728, p. 11). Husband and
Families, and Dual Entitlement
widower benefits were added in 1950, with the same benefit
offset based on the husband’s work history.
Even though it was argued during the enactment of
auxiliary (wife) benefits that these benefits would add little
to the cost of the system due to wives’ work history, the
share of dually entitled beneficiaries was small initially. In
1960, 4.6% of all female beneficiaries aged 62 and older
(and about 2% of all Social Security beneficiaries) were
dually entitled, compared with 32.8% receiving spouse only
and 23.4% receiving widow only benefits. Since then, the
percentage of dually entitled beneficiaries has increased and
reached its historical high in the mid-2000s—28.0% of
female beneficiaries aged 62 and older (and about 12.7% of
all Social Security beneficiaries) were dually entitled in
2005. The increase to the share of dually entitled women
has reversed since the mid-2000s and is projected to
continue declining. In 2017, 25.0% of female beneficiaries
aged 62 and older (and almost 11.4% of all beneficiaries)
were dually entitled.
Source: BLS, Women in the Labor Force: A Databook, December 2018,
The change in the share of dually entitled beneficiaries is
Table 2 (labor force participation) and Table 24B (two-earner
due to the increase in labor force participation among
families), and SSA, Annual Statistical Supplement, 2018, in progress,
women, particularly among married women, leading to an
Table 5.G2 (dually entitled women).
increase in two-earner families. In 1940, 15.2% of married
women (and 25.4% of women) were in the labor force. In
Zhe Li, Analyst in Social Policy
2017, 58.2% of married women (and 57.0% of women)
IF10738
participated in the labor force (see Figure 1). As the female
labor force participation rate increased, more women
received their Social Security benefits based on their own
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Social Security Dual Entitlement
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