The Curious Capitalist, Justin Fox, Economy, Markets, Business, TIME

December 31, 2007 12:55

February-December romances and their impact on Social Security

Posted by Justin Fox | Comments (4) | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | Email This

Here's something interesting I just learned from the Social Security Administration's website: There are 70 women aged 25 or younger in this country who are earning Social Security benefits as the spouses of retired workers. To qualify, they must be married to men 62 or older and have children 16 or younger, or older children who receive disability benefits. These women are not a major burden on the system's finances (70 recipients X $419.60 average monthly benefit = $352,464 a year) but, uh, kinda weird, no?

Meanwhile, the youngest male recipients of such benefits are 53 (there are 3 of them; average monthly benefit, $302).

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Reader Comments (4)

p_lukasiak:

There are 70 women aged 25 or younger in this country who are earning Social Security benefits as the spouses of retired workers.

...and not one of them is less than a C-cup, I'll wager.

Posted by p_lukasiak | December 31, 2007 5:27 PM

workathome:

No wonder why there are so reduced numbers of them. With those requirements, few will qualify.

Posted by workathome | December 31, 2007 10:27 PM

Alan Polonsky:

Almost correct. You left out an or. The mother must have a natural child that is in her care and either under 16 or disabled as a disabled adult child. (A child over 16 that became disabled prior to age 22) Of course, a mother under age 25 would likely have some difficulty in having a natural child over 16. (See 20 CFR § 404.330.

Posted by Alan Polonsky | January 1, 2008 10:46 AM

Justin Fox:

Thanks. I've fixed it.

Posted by Justin Fox | January 1, 2008 11:45 AM