Key Takeaways
- A widow or widower of any age who cares for the late spouse’s child under 16 can collect 75% of the late spouse’s full Social Security benefit, and the child can collect another 75%.
- A 44-year-old widow raising a 10-year-old, whose late husband’s full benefit was $2,400, would get $1,800 a month, or $21,600 a year.
- The parent’s check stops when the child turns 16, and the earnings test applies to it, so earning $60,000 next year would hold back $17,220 of it.
- The parent’s wages don’t reduce the child’s check, so a parent who works full-time should compare expected wages with the earnings limit before counting on the parent’s check.
Losing a spouse while you’re still raising young kids is hard enough without money worries piling on top. But there’s some help here: Social Security pays a widowed parent a monthly check of their own, at any age, while they’re caring for their late spouse’s child under 16. And it’s a big one: 75% of the late spouse’s full benefit.
Two checks a month for one family
Let’s say you’re a hypothetical 44-year-old widow raising a 10-year-old, and your late husband’s full benefit (what Social Security calls his primary insurance amount) was $2,400 a month. Your mother’s benefit is 75% of that: $1,800 a month, or $21,600 a year. Your child gets a survivor’s benefit on his record too, at three-fourths of his full benefit, so that’s another $1,800 a month. Together, that’s $3,600 a month coming into the house between your check and your child’s, or 150% of his benefit. That fits under the family maximum, the cap on what a family can draw on one worker’s record, which usually comes to about 150% to 180% of the worker’s full benefit.
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Who qualifies, and for how long
Widowers get it too (for them, it’s a father’s benefit), and so do some divorced spouses. You have to be unmarried and caring for your late spouse’s child who is younger than 16, or who developed a disability before 22, and the child has to be entitled to a child’s benefit on the same record. You also can’t be entitled to a widow’s benefit or to a retirement benefit of your own that’s as big or bigger. And since the regular widow’s benefit doesn’t start until 60, at 44 you’d otherwise wait 16 years for a check of your own on your husband’s record.
Your check stops when your child turns 16, unless the child has a disability. Your child’s keeps coming until 18, or until 19 if they’re still a full-time student in high school. In the example, that’s six years of your check, or $129,600 at $21,600 a year before any cost-of-living raises.
The earnings test can take most of it
But if you’re working, the earnings test applies to your check, since you’re decades short of full retirement age. For 2027, Social Security withholds $1 of benefits for every $2 you earn above $25,560. So let’s say you earn $60,000 next year. That’s $34,440 over the limit, so Social Security holds back $17,220, leaving you $4,380 of your $21,600 for the year.
Ouch. And if you earn $68,760 or more, the whole $21,600 is withheld, since half of what you earn above $25,560 would then cover your entire check.
Fortunately, your wages reduce only your own check, and your child’s $1,800 a month keeps coming whatever you earn. Only wages from work count toward the limit, too: investment income, interest, pensions and annuities don’t.
Run the numbers before you count on it
Your child’s benefit doesn’t depend on your paycheck, so there’s no reason to hold off on it. Your own check works on a sliding scale. In the example, wages up to $25,560 next year leave the full $21,600 intact, wages from there to $68,760 shrink it by $1 for every $2, and wages above that leave nothing. So a parent going back to work part-time, or taking a year to get the family settled, keeps far more of the check than one working full-time at $60,000.
The way I see it, this is one of the most generous benefits Social Security pays, and the money comes right when a grieving family needs it most. But a widow earning a full-time salary shouldn’t budget around her own check until she’s compared her expected wages with the limit. Social Security sets a new limit every year, so a raise, a promotion or a cut in hours can change how much of the check comes through from one year to the next.
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Disclaimer:
Please note that the articles on TIKR are not intended to serve as investment or financial advice from TIKR or our content team, nor are they recommendations to buy or sell any stocks. We create our content based on TIKR Terminal’s investment data and analysts’ estimates. Our analysis might not include recent company news or important updates. TIKR has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading, and happy investing!
