These Years Saw the Biggest Social Security COLAs in History
We are about two months away from learning what next year’s Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will be. Experts expect around a 3.5 percent increase, but that number continues to change as inflation figures are released.
According to an article by AS, the Social Security COLA was introduced in 1975, as part of a 1972 amendment to Congress’s Social Security Act, to ensure that benefits issued by the Social Security Administration keep pace with the rate of inflation. It is calculated by comparing Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) data for July, August, and September from the current year compared to the previous year.
Because inflation has been increasing, there is a strong belief that Social Security recipients will receive a larger COLA in 2027 than this year’s 2.8 percent. That’s pretty modest when you consider that some years saw a double-digit COLA.
The largest COLA in history was 14.3 percent in 1980. The following year, 1981, saw a 11.2 percent COLA, while the previous year, 1979, saw a 9.9 percent COLA. On the other end of the spectrum, there have been three years in which there was no COLA at all; 2009, 2010, and 2015 all had a 0.0% COLA.
Call for a New COLA Calculator
Senior advocates, including The Seniors Trust, believe seniors would be better served if the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E) was used instead of the current Consumer Price Index for Wage Earners (CPI-W). The CPI-E index shows how inflation actually impacts the typical retiree based on seniors’ spending habits.
We are calling on Congress to enact the Social Security Expansion Act. One of its main points calls for adopting the CPI-E as the COLA calculator, better ensuring that Social Security benefits keep pace with inflation.
Additionally, this landmark piece of legislation will also extend the solvency of the Social Security trust fund through 2096, expand Social Security benefits by about $200 a month for current and new beneficiaries, require millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share into Social Security by lifting the wage cap, and improve the Special Minimum Benefit for Social Security recipients which would help low-income workers stay out of poverty.
Is this something you can get on board with? Join us in urging lawmakers to enact the Social Security Expansion Act. You can show your support by signing our petition.
