Government Pension Offset(over)Government Pension OffsetA law that affects spouses and widows or widowersIf you receive a pension from a federal,state or local government based on workwhere you did not pay Social Security taxes,your Social Security spouse’s or widow’s orwidower’s benefits may be reduced. This factsheet provides answers to questions you mayhave about the reduction.How much will my Social Security benefits be reduced?Your Social Security benefits will bereduced by two-thirds of your governmentpension. In other words, if you get a monthlycivil service pension of $600, two-thirds ofthat, or $400, must be deducted from yourSocial Security benefits. For example, if youare eligible for a $500 spouse’s, widow’s orwidower’s benefit from Social Security, youwill receive $100 per month from SocialSecurity ($500 – $400 = $100).If you take your government pensionannuity in a lump sum, Social Security stillwill calculate the reduction as if you choseto get monthly benefit payments from yourgovernment work.Why will my Social Security benefits be reduced?Benefits we pay to wives, husbands,
widows and widowers are “dependent’s”benefits. These benefits were establishedin the 1930s to compensate spouses whostayed home to raise a family and whowere financially dependent on the workingspouse. But as it has become more commonfor both spouses in a married couple towork, each earned his or her own SocialSecurity retirement benefit. The law hasalways required that a person’s benefit as aspouse, widow or widower be offset dollarfor dollar by the amount of his or her ownretirement benefit.In other words, if a woman worked andearned her own $800 monthly Social Securityretirement benefit, but she also was due a$500 wife’s benefit on her husband’s SocialSecurity record, we could not pay that wife’sbenefit because her own Social Securitybenefit offset it. But, before enactment of theGovernment Pension Offset provision, if thatsame woman was a government employeewho did not pay into Social Security, andwho earned an $800 government pension,there was no offset, and we were required topay her a full wife’s benefit in addition to hergovernment pension.If this government employee’s work hadinstead been subject to Social Securitytaxes, any Social Security benefit payableas a spouse, widow or widower would havebeen reduced by the person’s own SocialSecurity retirement benefit. In enactingthe Government Pension Offset provision,Congress intended to ensure that whendetermining the amount of spousal benefit,government employees who do not pay SocialSecurity taxes would be treated in a similarmanner to those who work in the privatesector and do pay Social Security taxes.When won’t my Social Security benefits be reduced?Generally, your Social Security benefitsas a spouse, widow or widower will not bereduced if you:Are receiving a government pension that• is not based on your earnings;Are a state or local employee whose• government pension is based on a jobwhere you were paying Social Securitytaxes— on the last day of employment andyour last day was before July 1, 2004;— during the last five years of
employment and your last day ofemployment was July 1, 2004, orlater (Under certain conditions, fewerthan five years may be required forpeople whose last day of employmentfalls after June 30, 2004, and beforeMarch 2, 2009.);Are a federal employee, including Civil• Service Offset employee, who paysSocial Security taxes on your earnings(A Civil Service Offset employee is afederal employee who was rehired afterDecember 31, 1983, following a break inservice of more than 365 days and had fiveyears of prior civil service retirementsystem coverage.);
Are a federal employee who elected to• switch from the Civil Service RetirementSystem to the Federal Employees’ Retire-ment System (FERS) on or before June 30,1988. If you switched after that date,including during the open season from July1, 1998, through December 31, 1998, youneed five years under FERS to be exemptfrom the Government Pension Offset;
Received or were eligible to receive• a government pension before December1982and meet all the requirements forSocial Security spouse’s benefits in effectin January 1977; or
Received or were eligible to receive a• federal, state or local government pensionbefore July 1, 1983, and were receivingone-half support from your spouse.What about Medicare?Even if you do not receive cash benefitsbased on your spouse’s work, you still canget Medicare at age 65 on your spouse’srecord if you are not eligible for it on yourown record.Can I still get Social Security benefits from my own work?The offset applies only to Social Securitybenefits as a spouse or widow or widower.However, your own benefits may be reducedbecause of another provision of the law.For more information, ask for WindfallElimination Provision (Publication No.05-10045).Contacting Social SecurityFor more information and to find copiesof our publications, visit our website atwww.socialsecurity.gov or call toll-free,1-800-772-1213 (for the deaf or hard of hearing,call our TTY number,1-800-325-0778). Wetreat all calls confidentially. We can answerspecific questions from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.,Monday through Friday. We can provideautomated phone service 24 hours a day.We also want to make sure you receiveaccurate and courteous service. That is whywe have a second Social Security representativemonitor some telephone calls.Social Security AdministrationSSA Publication No. 05-10007ICN 451453Unit of Issue - HD (one hundred)May 2008 (Prior edition may be used)

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