Retirement Social Security

Millions Could Be Owed More Social Security Under This New Bill

Unpaid caregivers could see higher Social Security checks under new bill.

By David Maina, CPA , Edited by Laura Hohenstein

Updated June 1, 2026

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Stepping away from work to care for a child, an aging parent, or a disabled spouse is a decision millions of Americans make every year. It is also one that can leave a permanent mark on a Social Security record.

Every year out of the workforce is a year with no earnings in the calculation, and that gap can lower a monthly benefit for the rest of a person's life.

A bill recently introduced in Congress would change that by adding credited earnings into the records of some unpaid family caregivers for up to five years. If it becomes law, it could raise senior benefits for millions of people who stepped away from work to provide care and have been paying a financial price ever since.

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How the credit would work

Social Security calculates your benefit by averaging your 35 highest-earning years. Every year with no income counts as a zero in that average, and zeros pull the final number down.

The bill would replace those zeros with credited income equal to 50% of the national average wage for each qualifying month of caregiving. That credited amount would be included in the same formula used to calculate your actual benefit, increasing the monthly check you eventually receive.

The credit covers up to 60 months, and qualifying requires at least 80 hours of unpaid care per month for a dependent relative. If you provided care for longer than five years, only the most recent 60 months would be counted.

Note, though, that the increase wouldn't arrive as a lump sum. It would show up as a higher monthly Social Security check when you retire, or as a higher disability or survivor benefit if either applies first.

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What the credit could be worth

Research suggests that women who leave their jobs to care for family can lose as much as 20% of their future Social Security benefit compared to those who keep working.

On a benefit that would have been $1,500 a month, five years out of the workforce could bring that down to around $1,200. The caregiver credit would fill those gaps with deemed wages, potentially recovering much of what was lost. Over a 20-year retirement, that $300 monthly difference adds up to roughly $72,000.

The credit could also help with eligibility, since retirement benefits require 40 credits, or roughly 10 years of work. Someone who left the workforce at 45 after 20 years and spent the next decade caregiving might fall short of 40 credits under current rules.

Five years of credited caregiving would add 20 credits to their record, which in some cases could be enough to qualify for benefits they would otherwise miss out on entirely.

Who would qualify

The bill defines "dependent relative" in two categories. The first is a child under age 12, which includes your own children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and stepchildren. If you left work or cut your hours to care for a young child, those months could qualify.

The second category covers older relatives who are chronically dependent, meaning they can't perform at least two basic daily activities like eating, bathing, dressing, or getting in and out of bed without daily help. That includes a spouse, parent, grandparent, sibling, or adult child with a serious disability or illness.

A few additional rules apply:

The care must be unpaid, though payments from the VA's Family Caregiver Program would not block eligibility.
The credit is only used when it would raise your benefit.
Occasional help does not count, as the bill requires at least 80 hours of unpaid care in a month.

All in all, the credit is designed for people who gave up real income for sustained caregiving, and for those who qualify, it could make a noticeable difference in their monthly benefit later on.

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What you'd need to do to claim it

If the bill becomes law, the credit wouldn't be applied automatically. You'd file an application with the Social Security Administration (SSA) identifying the dependent, the months of care, and evidence of the person's dependency. The SSA would have one year after enactment to write the specific regulations, so exact forms and procedures aren't available yet.

In the meantime, it is worth starting to document your caregiving now. A log of caregiving hours, medical documentation for the dependent, and correspondence with health care providers would all strengthen a future application. It does not take much to get organized, and having that paper trail ready could save a lot of time later.

Where the bill stands now

The Social Security Caregiver Credit Act was reintroduced by Senators Chris Murphy and Kirsten Gillibrand, with companion legislation in the House from Rep. Brad Schneider. It has support from advocacy groups, including the Alliance for Retired Americans and Social Security Works.

Whether it moves forward is less certain. The bill adds a new category of credited earnings to a program already facing a long-term funding gap, and a formal cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has not been released yet.

Either way, any proposal that raises future benefits for millions of people will likely face questions about how it gets paid for before it can advance through committee.

Bottom line

Years of unpaid caregiving can leave a lasting mark on a Social Security record, lowering the monthly check many people expect to support their retirement plan. For many women especially, that gap between what they earned and what they gave up never fully gets accounted for under the current rules.

This bill is one of the few proposals directly aimed at changing that. It still has a long road ahead, but if it becomes law, it could make a real difference for people who stepped away from paid work to care for someone they love.

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