Social Security Eligibility Rules: What Are The Requirements For A Homemaker To Qualify For Social Security?
When Social Security was initially launched, most families only had one bread-earner, and only the working spouse was eligible for retirement benefits. This caused financial problems for the spouse who didn't work (and hence didn't qualify for Social Security) if the working spouse passed away first. Thankfully the Social Security Administration realized this hardship and amended the law to permit wives to collect benefits based on their husband's income.
The family dynamic has changed very much since Social Security was introduced back in 1935, but there are still a lot of families where one spouse does not work, and therefore does not qualify for retirement benefits based on their personal earnings.
There are several requirements in order to qualify for Social Security retirement benefits, such as:
- Age: In order to be eligible for Social Security retirement benefits, you need to be at least age 62. Other benefits, like survivor benefits or disability benefits may be received at an earlier age, but the Social Security eligibility criteria expect you to be age 62 before you can apply for retirement benefits.
- Work Credits: You should work in a Social Security included job (i.e., where you contribute to Social Security by means of payroll tax deductions) for not less than 40 credits to be eligible for retirement benefits. You can gain up to four credits per year; so basically, you must work for 10 years to meet the criteria for Social Security.
- Citizenship or Residency Status: You will be surprised to learn that you do not need to be a U.S. citizen to be eligible for Social Security retirement benefits. Employees who pay into the Social Security scheme may qualify for benefits even if they are not U.S. nationals, however they must stay in the U.S. to actually receive benefits.
And so... do spouses qualify for Social Security? Considering Social Security eligibility requirements mentioned above, most full-time housewives will not qualify for retirement benefits themselves, unless they were working for 10 years (40 credits) before they became a homemaker.
Alternatively, homemakers are entitled for benefits depending on their spouse's earnings. Social Security spousal benefits help husbands and wives to get retirement benefits based on their spouse's earnings if they result in a greater benefit than their own. To be more precise, a spouse who has not worked or who has considerably lower earnings than their husband or wife can collect up to as much as half of their spouse's entire retirement benefit.
Apart from spousal benefits, homemakers may also be eligible for Social Security survivor benefits. Widows and widowers can start getting Social Security benefits based on their late spouse's earnings beginning at age 60 (age 50 if they are disabled). Children of deceased people who are below age 18 (19 if they are still in high school) can also qualify for survivor benefits. This is very useful for families with small kids when the main bread earner dies at an early age.
While full-time homemakers that have never worked or who were working for less than 10 years normally won't qualify for Social Security retirement benefits on their own, as you can see, they may be eligible for benefits according to their husband's earnings. Note: while this report has assumed that the homemaker is woman, Social Security is gender neutral, so gents who choose to stay home to bring up the kids can also qualify for spousal and survivor benefits.
Why Women Need To Know Regarding Social Security Spouse And Survivor Benefits When Social Security was established most women did not work. Lower or no earnings combined with a longer life span meant poverty for many women when their husbands passed away. Social Security recognized these challenges and have implemented several changes to the system to help women avoid poverty.
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