More than 1.1 million people with public pensions — teachers, firefighters, police officers and the like — have recently received retroactive benefits due to the Social Security Fairness Act, the Social Security Administration said on Tuesday.
The SSA said it is continuing to pay the retroactive benefits to eligible Social Security beneficiaries, whose monthly payments will increase beginning in April, reflecting March’s benefit.
The monthly benefit adjustment and retroactive payments are due to a law signed in January by former President Biden, who said it would mean an average monthly increase of $360 for more than 2.5 million Social Security recipients.
What is the average Social Security retroactive payment?
The retroactive payments are due to the law’s elimination of two federal policies that barred employees with a public pension from collecting their full benefits under the federal retirement program. Those same policies also reduced benefits for such workers’ surviving spouses and family members.
Under the new law, the benefits hike is retroactive to December 2023. As a result, eligible recipients who previously only received partial benefits will get a full payment retroactive to a year ago.
The average retroactive payment through March 4 is $6,710, the SSA said on Tuesday.
About 1.13 million people have received a combined $7.5 billion in retroactive payments through March 4, it added.
How much will Social Security payments increase?
The change in payment amount going forward will depend on the type of benefit and pension, and will vary from person to person.
“Some people’s benefits will increase very little, while others may be eligible for over $1,000 more each month,” the Social Security Administration has previously stated.
