十大名牌杯子排行榜最新 Social Security Fairness Act Repeals Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset

Social Security Fairness Act Repeals Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset Byline profile image

Written聽by聽Eric Reed | Byline profile image

Edited聽by聽Patrick Villanova, CEPF庐Updated on April 25, 2025, 1:35pm ET |

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For decades, public employees who received government pensions saw their Social Security benefits reduced due to the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). But in early 2025, President Joe Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act into law, officially repealing the WEP and GPO. The law increases Social Security benefits for 3.2 million people and provides one-time retroactive compensation for reductions dating back to January 2024.

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What Is the Social Security Fairness Act?

The Social Security Fairness Act is a piece of bipartisan legislation that eliminates both WEP and GPO, marking a significant policy shift that restores full Social Security benefits to millions of retirees. By removing these offsets, the law ensures that public employees who worked in non-covered government jobs and later paid into Social Security-covered employment no longer face unexpected reductions in their retirement income.

Beyond increasing monthly payments, the law includes a retroactive provision, compensating retirees for benefits lost due to the WEP and GPO throughout 2024. This means that affected individuals will receive lump-sum payments reflecting the amounts withheld due to these provisions. The financial relief will be particularly meaningful for widows and widowers, who often saw their spousal or survivor benefits reduced to zero under GPO.

Based on a February 2025 SSA announcement, all those who are going to get monthly benefit increases began receiving them by April 2025 at the latest. Meanwhile, the lump-sum payments that are retroactive to January 2024 are expected to be paid out by the end of March 2025, according to the SSA.

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About the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset Congressional Bill May Soon End Windfall Elimination

Before their repeal, WEP and GPO were designed to adjust Social Security benefits for retirees who received government pensions but also had some Social Security-covered earnings. However, these provisions often overcorrected, leading to unintended benefit reductions for workers who had legitimately paid into the system.

Following its creation in 1983, the WEP applied to workers who received a public pension from jobs that did not contribute to Social Security but had also worked in Social Security-covered employment. The WEP reduced their Social Security retirement benefits, often by hundreds of dollars per month, depending on the length of covered employment. Individuals with fewer than 30 years of substantial Social Security-covered work were most affected, with reductions increasing for those with fewer than 20 years.

The GPO, which was created in 1977, primarily impacted spouses, widows, and widowers who received government pensions from non-covered employment. It cut spousal and survivor benefits by two-thirds of their pension amount, which frequently meant eliminating benefits entirely. GPO had a disproportionate impact on women, particularly teachers and government employees who relied on survivor benefits as a key part of their retirement income.

Why Public Employees Opposed WEP and GPO

The passage of this law follows years of bipartisan advocacy. Labor unions, public employee organizations and lawmakers from both major parties argued that the WEP and GPO disproportionately harmed workers who spent part of their careers in jobs that paid into Social Security but later worked in non-covered employment.

A teacher who worked a summer job, a firefighter who held a private-sector job early in their career or a civil servant who moved between public and private employment often saw their benefits reduced even though they contributed payroll taxes like other workers.

Many retirees found the benefit reductions confusing and unpredictable. Since the WEP and GPO calculations relied on a mix of covered and non-covered employment history, retirees often did not realize how much their benefits would be reduced until they applied for Social Security. Some found their expected retirement income significantly lower than anticipated, creating financial strain in later years.

The GPO was especially controversial because it eliminated spousal and survivor benefits for many public employees. A widow who expected to receive Social Security benefits based on her late spouse鈥檚 earnings could lose that income entirely if she had a government pension. Critics argued that this policy penalized workers simply for being married to a Social Security-covered worker.

Bottom Line

With the repeal of WEP and GPO, public employees and retirees will no longer face reductions in their Social Security benefits due to government pensions. The Social Security Fairness Act restores full benefits to millions of Americans, ensuring that retirees receive the benefits they earned without arbitrary reductions. Additionally, the law鈥檚 retroactive provision provides financial relief to those who lost benefits throughout 2024, offering a long-awaited correction to decades of benefit reductions.

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Eric ReedEric Reed is a freelance journalist who specializes in economics, policy and global issues, with substantial coverage of finance and personal finance. He has contributed to outlets including The Street, CNBC, Glassdoor and Consumer Reports. Eric鈥檚 work focuses on the human impact of abstract issues, emphasizing analytical journalism that helps readers more fully understand their world and their money. He has reported from more than a dozen countries, with datelines that include Sao Paolo, Brazil; Phnom Penh, Cambodia; and Athens, Greece. A former attorney, before becoming a journalist Eric worked in securities litigation and white collar criminal defense with a pro bono specialty in human trafficking issues. He graduated from the University of Michigan Law School and can be found any given Saturday in the fall cheering on his Wolverines.Loading Related Articles...