Social Security rule change could mean an extra $1,000 a month for some beneficiaries

Some Social Security recipients could see a boost in their benefits as the result of a rules change.

In 2025, the Social Security Fairness Act did away with provisions that reduced or eliminated benefits for more than 2.9 million public servants, including some teachers, police officers, firefighters and federal employees.

The act repealed two previous policies – the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset. WEP impacted workers who received pension benefits from work where Social Security taxes were not withheld, resulting in smaller retirement benefits. GPO covered individuals with public pensions from jobs that didn’t take out Social Security taxes who lost access to their spouse’s Social Security benefits, including deceased and ex-spouses.

How much did benefits increase?

The rule change has boosted Social Security benefits for some people by an average of about $360 per month. Others saw a monthly change of as much as $1,000, the Social Security Administration said.

The change also impacts divorced spouses and widows and widowers whose former spouse’s Social Security benefits were reduced because they received public pensions. Eliminating that reduction means they, too, could be in line for higher benefits.

Both categories could see their monthly benefits increase and a lump-sum deposit to cover the missed back pay.

According to SSA, the average lump-sum retroactive payment was around $6,710.

Social Security began paying the retroactive benefits in February 2025, covering back to January 2024. Increased monthly payments also began at that time. Affected parties should have received a notice of the change.

People with questions about their eligibility should contact their local Social Security office to verify their benefits.

You can also see answers to frequently asked questions here.

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