Sponsors (4)
The bill gives unpaid family caregivers federally credited months that can boost future Social Security benefits and recognizes caregiving, but it raises program costs, creates administrative complexity and limits that may leave some long-term or low-earning caregivers with only modest gains unless offsets and streamlined administration are adopted.
Unpaid family caregivers (parents, family members caring for children under 12 or chronically dependent adults) will receive up to 60 months of credited earnings that can raise future Social Security retirement or disability benefits.
The bill formally recognizes and financially values family caregiving, which can improve long-term retirement security for caregiving households and focus more policy attention on supports that reduce caregiver financial strain.
The legislation sets federal standards and a documentation process (physician verification, periodic recertification) to target credited months to legitimate caregiving situations and reduce wrongful claims.
Expanding credited earnings for caregivers increases Social Security benefit costs and could put additional pressure on trust funds, potentially contributing to future payroll tax increases or benefit trade-offs.
Requiring documentation and periodic recertification (including physician evidence) and the complex adjudication of qualifying months may impose administrative burden on caregivers and the SSA, causing processing delays, disputes, and hardship for some applicants.
The credited-earnings benefit is limited to the most recent 60 qualifying months and capped at 50% of NAWI per month, so long-term caregivers or low-earning caregivers may see only modest increases in benefits.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Counts qualifying unpaid family caregiving months as deemed wages for Social Security calculations (up to 60 months), with documentation and SSA rulemaking.
Introduced April 23, 2026 by Brad Schneider · Last progress April 23, 2026
Creates a new Social Security rule that counts certain months of unpaid family caregiving as "deemed wages" when computing Social Security benefits. Caregivers who provide at least 80 hours of unpaid care in a month for qualifying relatives can receive credit for up to 60 such months, with a formula that treats each qualifying month as paid at a fixed fraction of the national average wage (subject to offsets for any actual earnings that month). The Social Security Administration must write regulations within one year to set up applications, documentation and fraud-prevention procedures. The credit does not apply to months after attainment of retirement age, does not treat VA payments under 38 U.S.C. 1720G as wages, and cannot be used if it would reduce an otherwise payable benefit or a lump-sum death payment.