Widows and divorced spouses receiving Social Security benefits are seeing an average monthly boost of $1,190 following the repeal of the Government Pension Offset (GPO), a decades-old provision that reduced survivor and spousal benefits for those who also received government pensions.
The Social Security Fairness Act, signed into law on January 5, 2025, eliminated both the GPO and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), two longstanding rules that had quietly reduced benefits for more than 2 million Americans, according to PlanMember Financial. The act’s impact is retroactive to January 2024, meaning affected individuals are entitled to receive back payments for benefits they would have received in the absence of these provisions.
Under the GPO, Social Security spousal or widow(er) benefits were reduced by two-thirds of the monthly government pension amount. For example, a surviving spouse entitled to a $3,000 Social Security benefit and receiving a $3,000 pension would see their Social Security payment reduced to $1,000 per month. The repeal eliminates this offset entirely, restoring full benefits to eligible survivors.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that eliminating the GPO would increase monthly benefits by an average of $1,190 for widow(er) beneficiaries and an average of $700 for spousal beneficiaries as of December 2025, according to Congress.gov. These figures represent the average monthly increases affected individuals can expect once the Social Security Administration completes processing the benefit adjustments.
The act primarily benefits public sector workers including teachers, firefighters, police officers, postal workers, and federal employees covered by the Civil Service Retirement System, as well as their spouses and surviving family members. Many of these workers had been subject to the GPO because they earned pensions from government jobs that were not covered by Social Security.
Processing the benefit changes has proven complex, with the Social Security Administration indicating that much of the work must be handled manually on a case-by-case basis. According to PlanMember, under current budget constraints, the SSA expects it could take more than a year to adjust all benefits and pay retroactive amounts owed to affected beneficiaries. The agency is currently processing new claims and developing automated solutions for computing retroactive benefits.
Those who have already received reduced Social Security benefits do not need to take action to receive the increased payments; the SSA will automatically recalculate their benefits once processing is complete. The Social Security Administration advises beneficiaries to verify that their current mailing address and direct deposit information are up to date in their “my Social Security” online account to ensure they receive their increased payments and any retroactive lump sum payments without delay.
Sources
- Social Security Administration — official information on the Social Security Fairness Act, the GPO, and implementation details
- Congress.gov — Congressional Budget Office estimates showing $1,190 average increase for widow(er) beneficiaries and $700 for spousal beneficiaries
- PlanMember Financial — details on who is affected, how much benefits increase, retroactive payment timeline, and SSA processing expectations
- GovExec.com — reporting on one-year anniversary status and ongoing implementation challenges
- LACERA — confirmation of January 2024 retroactive effective date
