A look back at Social Security’s indexing benefits to inflation - AMAC & AS Latest News
How have Social Security benefits changed over the past few decades? Social Security payments have been automatically indexed to inflation using cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) since Congress put the change into law in 1975. Before that lawmakers had to wrangle over how much of an increase, if any, to pass each year. Automatic adjustments have ranged from zero to a record 14.3% increase in 1980. This year’s 5.9% increase, which takes effect January 1, 2022 is the largest since 1982, just edging out the 5.8% increase of 2008. Greg Heilman’s piece looks back at how indexing started, what it has achieved over time, and how purchasing power has been maintained, though the COLA arguably still falls short. Full piece here.