❗Let's close the gap: We still need your help to raise $40,000 by April 1. Donate now

Social Security benefits’ buying power is fading, despite adjustments

Sabri Ben-Achour Oct 10, 2019
HTML EMBED:
COPY
Blank Social Security checks are run through a printer at the U.S. Treasury printing facility Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. William Thomas Cain/ Getty Images

Social Security benefits’ buying power is fading, despite adjustments

Sabri Ben-Achour Oct 10, 2019
Blank Social Security checks are run through a printer at the U.S. Treasury printing facility Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. William Thomas Cain/ Getty Images
HTML EMBED:
COPY

Social Security benefits will grow by 1.6% in 2020, thanks to the program’s annual Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA).

That’s a smaller increase than in either of the past two years (this year’s increase was 2.8%; last year’s was 2%) but a bigger than average boost compared to the past decade.

The annual COLA is based on the Consumer Price Index for working-age residents of urban areas. But it’s widely accepted that this figure fails to account for seniors’ higher spending on health care and housing, which are experiencing significant inflation. Changing that would require an act of Congress.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.