How do Social Security spousal benefits work?

Rules checked October 18, 2026, against ssa.gov

Who can get a spousal benefit

A spousal benefit is a monthly payment based on your husband's or wife's work record instead of your own. It exists so that a spouse who earned less, or who spent years out of paid work, still has retirement income. Social Security calls the higher earner "the worker."

To get a spousal benefit, three things must be true:

• The worker has filed. Your spouse must be receiving their own retirement or disability benefit before you can be paid on their record. Social Security says plainly that "your spouse must be receiving benefits for you to get benefits on their work record" (SSA blog: Do you qualify for spouse's benefits?).
• You have been married at least 1 year. (SSA: Who can get family benefits)
• You are 62 or older, or you are caring for the worker's child who is 15 or younger or who has a disability. With a child in care, the spousal benefit is not reduced for age (SSA: Benefits for spouses).

The first rule matters for couples where the higher earner plans to wait until 70. If the lower earner wants spousal benefits at 66 or 67, they can't get them until the worker starts. Their own benefit, if they have one, can start any time.

How much it pays

The starting point is the worker's primary insurance amount, or PIA. That is the benefit the worker would get at their own full retirement age, before any early reduction or delay bonus. A spouse who waits until the spouse's own full retirement age can get up to half of the worker's PIA (SSA: Benefits for spouses).

A few points often surprise people:

• It is not added to your own benefit. If you have your own retirement benefit, Social Security pays that first. If half of your spouse's PIA is higher, you get a top-up so that the total equals the spousal amount. You never get your own full benefit plus a full spousal benefit (SSA blog).
• The worker's timing doesn't change it. The spousal benefit is based on the worker's PIA. If the worker claimed early at 62, your spousal amount is still figured from the full PIA. If the worker waits to 70, their delay credits don't raise your spousal benefit (though they do raise any survivor benefit later).
• It doesn't cost the worker anything. Payments to a spouse do not reduce the worker's own benefit.

Starting early, and why waiting past full retirement age doesn't help

You can start a spousal benefit as early as 62, but it is permanently reduced. Social Security takes off 25/36 of 1% for each of the first 36 months before your full retirement age, and 5/12 of 1% for each month beyond that (SSA: Benefits for spouses). For someone whose full retirement age is 67, that works out to roughly the following share of the worker's PIA:

We worked out these percentages from SSA's reduction formula for someone born in 1960 or later. Your exact number depends on your birth date.

The spousal benefit stops growing at your full retirement age. Social Security says that at full retirement age "the spouse's benefit cannot exceed one-half" of the worker's full retirement amount (SSA: Retirement benefits for spouses). Delayed retirement credits, the 8% a year raise for waiting past full retirement age, apply only to your own retirement benefit. So a spouse whose only meaningful benefit is the spousal amount gains nothing by waiting past full retirement age.

If you have a child in your care who is 15 or younger, or a child of any age with a disability who gets benefits on the worker's record, the spousal benefit is paid without the age reduction.

Deemed filing: you can't pick just one benefit

Years ago, some people filed only for a spousal benefit and let their own benefit grow until 70. That option is gone for anyone who turned 62 on or after January 2, 2016 (in other words, born on or after January 2, 1954). Under a rule called deemed filing, when you apply for either your own retirement benefit or a spousal benefit, you are treated as applying for both (SSA FAQ: Can I apply only for spouse's benefits?).

In practice this means:

• If your spouse has already filed when you apply, you get your own benefit plus any spousal top-up, both reduced for your age.
• If your spouse has not filed yet, you get only your own benefit. When your spouse later files, Social Security adds the spousal top-up automatically. The top-up is reduced based on your age when it starts.
• You cannot later "switch" from a spousal benefit to a larger own benefit that kept growing. That strategy no longer exists for spouses. (It still exists for widows and widowers. See our guide to survivor benefits.)

Benefits for a divorced spouse

A former husband or wife can also get a spousal benefit on the worker's record. Social Security's handbook lists the conditions (SSA Handbook section 311):

• The marriage lasted at least 10 years before the divorce became final.
• You are 62 or older. Unlike a current spouse, a divorced spouse can't start earlier because of a child in care.
• You are not married now. If you remarry, you generally lose the benefit on your former spouse's record.
• Your own retirement benefit is less than half of your former spouse's PIA.

There is one big difference from a current spouse. If you have been divorced for at least two continuous years, you can get benefits on your former spouse's record even if they have not filed yet, as long as they are at least 62 and have enough work credits. This is called being "independently entitled."

Your former spouse does not need to know you applied, and your benefit does not reduce theirs. Payments to an ex-spouse also do not count toward the "family maximum," the cap on total benefits paid on one worker's record, so they don't lower what a current spouse can get (SSA: What you could get from family benefits). The worker remarrying does not end a divorced spouse's eligibility.

Deemed filing and the early-start reductions apply to a divorced spouse in the same way as to a current spouse.

What changed for public employees in 2025

For decades, the Government Pension Offset (GPO) hit public employees who earned a pension from a job that did not pay into Social Security. Many teachers, police officers, firefighters and federal workers under the old CSRS system were in this group. The GPO cut a spousal or survivor benefit by two-thirds of the government pension. A $3,000 monthly pension, for example, cut a spousal benefit by $2,000, and in many cases wiped it out entirely (SSA: Government Pension Offset fact sheet).

The Social Security Fairness Act, signed on January 5, 2025, repealed the GPO and the related Windfall Elimination Provision. The repeal applies to benefits payable for January 2024 and later (SSA: Social Security Fairness Act update).

What this means for a public employee with a pension from non-covered work:

• Your pension no longer reduces a spousal benefit. You can get the full spousal amount described above, subject only to the usual age reduction and the "own benefit first" rule.
• If you never applied because the GPO would have wiped out your benefit, you may need to apply now. Social Security says people who are not sure they applied, or who never applied because of the GPO, may need to file. You can apply for spouse's benefits online or by calling 1-800-772-1213.
• Don't wait. For new applications, back payments for retirement and spousal benefits are generally limited to six months before the month you apply. Each month of delay can be a month of benefits lost.

Our guide Does a pension reduce Social Security? covers the repeal in more detail, including how it changed workers' own benefits.

What to do next

1. Get both of your PIAs. Each spouse can see their full-retirement-age estimate in a my Social Security account. Half of the higher PIA is the most the lower earner can get as a spouse.
2. Decide who files first. Because the worker must file before the spouse can be paid, the higher earner's start date sets the earliest date for the spousal top-up. Our guide When should I start Social Security? walks through the trade-offs.
3. If the GPO kept you from applying, call Social Security. Use the SSA Fairness Act page or call 1-800-772-1213 to apply for spouse's benefits.
4. Divorced? Gather your marriage certificate and final divorce decree. Social Security will need both to confirm the 10-year rule.

General information, not advice. We aren't part of the Social Security Administration. For an official figure, ask Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 or check your my Social Security account at ssa.gov.