Social Security Dual Entitlement

Social Security Dual Entitlement

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Updated October 5, 2021
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 2020.
between single-earner and two-earner households. With the
increase in two-earner households, some are concerned
The current-law auxiliary benefit structure can lead to
about 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 2020

Average Monthly Benefit
Retired-Worker
Reduced-
Type of Secondary Benefit
Number
Combined Benefit
Benefit
Secondary Benefit
All
7,355,201
$1,388
$791
$597
Spouses
3,171,510
$947
$643
$304
Wives
3,066,288
$950
$643
$306
Husbands
105,222
$878
$635
$242
Widow(er)s
4,183,329
$1,722
$903
$819
Widows
4,005,348
$1,725
$889
$835
Widowers
177,981
$1,661
$1,203
$458
Parents
362
$1,575
$697
$877
Source: SSA, Annual Statistical Supplement, 2021, Table 5.G3, https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/supplement/2021/5g.html#table5.g3.
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 Example of Earnings and
labor force participation rate increased, more women
Benefits:
received their Social Security benefits based on their own
Single-Earner Versus Two-Earner Households
work record. Since many women’s retired-worker benefits
were less than their spousal benefits, the share of dually

Single-earner
entitled female beneficiaries has increased, especially
Household earnings: $50,000
before the mid-2000s. However, the increase in labor force
Annual payrol taxes: $3,100
participation of women and improvements in women’s
Monthly benefit: $1,770 worker + $885 spousal =
earnings have led to women’s retired-worker benefits
$2,655 total
exceeding spousal benefits. Thus, fewer women are dually

Two-earner
entitled, and more are entitled based solely on their own
Household earnings: $25,000 each ($50,000 total)
work record in the most recent decade.
Annual payrol taxes: $1,550 each ($3,100 total)
Monthly benefit: $1,120 worker + $1,120 worker =
Addressing Auxiliary Benefit Inequities
$2,240 total
There have been several proposals to address inequities
Source: American Academy of Actuaries, Women and Social
between single-earner and two-earner households arising
Security, Issue Brief, May 2017.
from the structure of auxiliary benefits. One proposal is to
reduce spousal benefits. With a smaller spousal benefit, less
would be lost by the offset from the retired-worker benefit.
History: Evolution of Dual Entitlement
Earnings sharing has been another proposal to address
The Social Security Act, when originally enacted in 1935,
unequal treatment of one-earner versus two-earner
only contained provisions for retired-worker benefits and
households. Earnings sharing essentially considers the
lump-sum death benefits. The Social Security Amendments
household as the contribution source, as opposed to the
of 1939 added auxiliary (wife, widow, children, and parent)
worker(s): a couple’s covered earnings would be combined
benefits, to provide “more adequate protection to the family
and divided evenly between the spouses. The most basic
as a unit” (H.Rept. 76-728, p. 7). Adding supplementary
form of earnings sharing would eliminate spousal and
wife benefits to the program came with the understanding
survivor benefits. A similar proposal that targets inequities
that wives would have some work history. The amendments
in survivors benefits would set a minimum survivors benefit
included a provision to offset wife benefits by any retired-
that is equal to 75% of the couple’s combined monthly
worker benefits the wife might be entitled to, based on her
benefit. Under current law, the earnings record (and
own work history. It was argued that these additional
benefits) of the lower-earning spouse “disappears,” and the
benefits would have limited program costs: “because most
surviving spouse receives benefits based only on the higher-
wives, in the long run, will build up wage credits on their
earning spouse’s earning record. The 75% of combined
own account, as a result of their own employment, these
benefits would “reward” the second source of earnings.
supplementary allowances will add but little to the ultimate
cost of the system” (H.Rept. 76-728, p. 11). Husband and
Figure 1. Labor Force Participation, Two-Earner
widower benefits were added in 1950, with the same benefit
Families, and Dual Entitlement, 1950-2020
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 in the share of dually entitled women
has reversed since the mid-2000s and is projected to
continue declining. In 2020, 23.9% of female beneficiaries
aged 62 and older (and almost 11.3% of all beneficiaries)
were dually entitled.

Source: BLS, Women in the Labor Force: A Databook, December 2020,
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, 2021, Table 5.G2
women, particularly among married women, leading to an
(dual y 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
2019, 58.6% of married women (and 57.4% of women)
participated in the labor force (see Figure 1). As the female
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Social Security Dual Entitlement

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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF10738 · VERSION 8 · UPDATED