Two rules used to reduce Social Security for a particular group of retirees: people who spent part of a career in a job that did not pay into Social Security, and who drew a pension from it. Both are now gone.
The coverage of this has been unhelpfully broad, and the result is a lot of people checking their statements for an increase that was never going to come. Being precise about who this touches is the useful thing an article can do.
What was repealed
The Social Security Fairness Act was signed into law on 5 January 2025. It repealed:
- the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), which reduced a worker's own Social Security benefit, and
- the Government Pension Offset (GPO), which reduced spousal and survivor benefits.
The repeal applies to monthly benefits payable after December 2023. That retrospective reach is why the story involved lump-sum back payments as well as higher ongoing amounts.
Who this actually reaches
The qualifying condition is narrow and specific: a pension based on work not covered by Social Security.
That means employment where Social Security taxes were not withheld. Some state and local government roles, some public school systems, and certain federal employment under the older Civil Service Retirement System fall into it. Many do not.
SSA's own framing is the number worth holding onto: around 72% of state and local public employees work in Social Security-covered employment and were therefore never subject to WEP or GPO. Those individuals receive no increase from this law, because nothing was being taken from them.
So "teachers get more Social Security" is wrong as a general statement. Some teachers, in some states, under some systems, get more. The rest were never affected.
The scale, and the money
SSA reported that as of January 2025 about 3.2 million individuals had their Social Security benefits reduced or eliminated by the GPO, the WEP, or both.
On the size of the change, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that removing the GPO would increase monthly benefits by an average of around $700 for affected spousal beneficiaries and around $1,190 for affected widow or widower beneficiaries, and that repealing the WEP would increase them by around $360 on average for affected worker beneficiaries and their dependents.
Those are averages across very different situations, and an average is a poor guide to an individual case. The direction is reliable; the amount is not, for you specifically.
SSA began adjusting payments in February 2025 and reported completing over 3.1 million payments totalling around $17 billion by July 2025 — ahead of its own projected timetable.
The people most likely to still be missing out
Here is the group worth actually acting on, and it is easy to miss.
Some people never applied at all. If GPO would have wiped out a spousal or survivor benefit entirely, applying looked pointless, so they did not. SSA has no claim on file to adjust.
If that describes you, or a widowed parent, the offset that made the claim pointless no longer exists. Whether there is now something payable is a question worth putting to SSA rather than assuming the answer.
The same logic applies to anyone who was told years ago not to bother.
What this changes about planning
More taxable income. A higher Social Security benefit can change how much of your benefit is taxable, and it feeds modified adjusted gross income — which drives Medicare IRMAA, where the brackets are cliffs rather than slopes. A back payment landing in a single year is exactly the kind of event that crosses one.
The senior deduction may help with the tax, not the IRMAA. The $6,000 deduction for people 65 and over reduces taxable income, but sits below adjusted gross income on the return, so it is unlikely to pull you back under an IRMAA threshold.
Retirement projections built before 2025 are wrong. Anyone who modelled their retirement income with a WEP or GPO reduction baked in has a materially different picture now. The current earnings limits and COLA figures are in the Social Security guide.
What to actually check
- Was any part of your career in employment not covered by Social Security? If not, this does not affect you.
- Do you draw a pension from that employment? That is the trigger.
- Did you ever decline to claim a spousal or survivor benefit because it would have been offset? Revisit it.
- Check your benefit amount and any back payment on your SSA record.
- Model the tax and IRMAA effect of the higher income, particularly in the year a back payment arrives.
The description above follows SSA's published guidance on the Fairness Act and CBO estimates reported alongside it, and is written as background for readers in the United States. It is not tax, benefits or financial advice. Whether WEP or GPO ever applied to you, and what you are now entitled to, depends on your earnings record and pension. Confirm your own position with SSA before acting.
Sources
- SSA — Social Security Fairness Act: WEP and GPO update (opens in a new tab)
- SSA — Program explainer: Windfall Elimination Provision (opens in a new tab)
- SSA — Program explainer: Government Pension Offset (opens in a new tab)
- SSA — Expedited retroactive payments and higher monthly benefits (opens in a new tab)
- Congressional Research Service — The Social Security Fairness Act of 2023 (opens in a new tab)
This article is general information for a United States audience and reflects the Social Security Fairness Act as described by SSA, and estimates published by the Congressional Budget Office, at the date of review. It is not tax, benefits or financial advice. Whether either provision applied to you, and what any individual now receives, depends on the earnings record and the pension involved. Confirm your own position directly with SSA before relying on any of this. Last reviewed 17 September 2026.
