Social Security Recipients Are Continuing to Work
Around 40% of people receiving Social Security are still employed, often part-time, indicating that the benefits they receive are not sufficient. Many individuals tend to retire and rely on their benefits, but a significant number find they still need additional income to manage their expenses.
A report from the Boston College Retirement Research Center highlights that in 2022, approximately 40% of Social Security beneficiaries were engaged in work shortly after claiming their benefits. Some of these workers start collecting benefits before fully retiring, while others have had to return to work to cover living costs.
Experts suggest that Social Security benefits have not kept pace with rising costs for retirees. This struggle leads many to either cut their spending or seek employment, as the adjustments made for cost of living have historically failed to meet inflation. In fact, from 2010 to 2024, there was a reported 20% loss in purchasing power for beneficiaries due to inadequate adjustments.
This trend reveals that senior citizens often need to remain in the workforce even after receiving their benefits. For those wishing to avoid work while drawing Social Security, it’s important to ensure they have saved adequately for retirement. Nowadays, relying solely on benefits often isn’t enough.
A substantial 68% of working beneficiaries opted for Social Security benefits before they reached full retirement age. According to research from Boston University, early claimants who continue to work typically have lower educational backgrounds and are less likely to have professional or managerial positions compared to those who wait until reaching full retirement age. Moreover, these early claimants tend to report poorer health than those who delay their claims.
The researchers pointed out that for early claimants, this behavior reflects a reliance on Social Security to supplement their income as they gradually move away from the workforce. From full retirement age to age 69, about one-third of those still working had claimed their benefits early, although this group showed a notable shift—with more individuals working full-time past their full retirement age than before that point.
While there are penalties for claiming Social Security early, which can decrease benefits and limit full-time work, this changes after reaching full retirement age, when those restrictions no longer apply.
