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Social Security Eligibility Criteria: Can A Full-Time Homemaker Get Social Security?
When Social Security was first introduced, most families only had one bread-earner, and only the working spouse was eligible for retirement benefits. This resulted in financial problems for the spouse who didn't work (and hence didn't qualify for Social Security) if the working spouse passed away first. Thankfully the Social Security Administration realized this hardship and amended the law to let wives to collect benefits based on their husband's earnings.
The family dynamic has changed a lot since Social Security was introduced back in 1935, but there are still a lot of families where one spouse does not work, and so does not qualify for retirement benefits based on their personal earnings.
There are several requirements in order to qualify for Social Security retirement benefits, including:
- Age: In order to be eligible for Social Security retirement benefits, you should be at least age 62. Other benefits, such as survivor benefits or disability benefits may be collected at an earlier age, but the Social Security eligibility criteria expect you to be age 62 before you can request for retirement benefits.
- Work Credits: You should work in a Social Security included job (i.e., where you contribute to Social Security through payroll tax deductions) for not less than 40 credits to qualify for retirement benefits. You can get up to four credits per year; so essentially, you must work for 10 years to qualify for Social Security.
- Citizenship or Residency Status: You will be surprised to find that you do not need to be a U.S. citizen to be eligible for Social Security retirement benefits. Workers who pay into the Social Security scheme may qualify for benefits even if they are not U.S. citizens, however they must be living in the U.S. to actually collect benefits.
Then... do spouses qualify for Social Security? Considering Social Security eligibility criteria mentioned above, most full-time housewives will not qualify for retirement benefits on their own, unless they were working for 10 years (40 credits) before they became a homemaker.
But, homemakers may be eligible for benefits based on their spouse's earnings. Social Security spousal benefits enable husbands and wives to get retirement benefits based on their spouse's salary if they result in a greater benefit than their own. To be more precise, a spouse who has not worked or who has significantly lower earnings than their husband or wife can collect up to as much as half of their spouse's total retirement benefit.
Along with spousal benefits, homemakers may also qualify for Social Security survivor benefits. Widows and widowers can start receiving Social Security benefits based on their late spouse's earnings beginning at age 60 (age 50 if they are handicapped). Children of deceased people who are below age 18 (19 if they are still in high school) may also qualify for survivor benefits. This is very useful for families with small children when the main bread earner passes away at an early age.
While full-time homemakers who have never worked or who were employed for less than 10 years normally won't qualify for Social Security retirement benefits on their own, basically, they may be eligible for benefits according to their husband's earnings. Note: while this report has assumed that the homemaker is female, Social Security is gender neutral, so gents who choose to stay home to raise the kids can also qualify for spousal and survivor benefits.
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