S-4396-119
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Sponsored by Christopher Murphy (D-CT)
What it does
This bill would amend Title II of the Social Security Act to credit individuals who provide unpaid care to dependent relatives with "deemed wages" for up to 60 months (five years) of qualifying caregiving. A qualifying month requires at least 80 hours of unpaid care to a child under 12 or a chronically dependent relative. The deemed wage amount would equal up to 50% of the national average wage index for each qualifying month, and would be used to calculate the caregiver's future Social Security retirement or survivor benefits — but only if doing so results in a higher benefit than the caregiver would otherwise receive.
Who benefits
Unpaid family caregivers — disproportionately women, who studies show provide the majority of informal family care — who currently have gaps in their Social Security earnings records due to time spent out of the paid workforce. Caregivers of children under 12, elderly parents, spouses or domestic partners, and other chronically dependent relatives. Veterans' family caregivers who receive VA caregiver assistance, which the bill explicitly excludes from counting as "monetary compensation." Lower-income caregivers who have no other earnings during qualifying months would receive the full 50% deemed wage credit. Future Social Security beneficiaries broadly, to the extent the bill encourages continued informal caregiving that reduces demand for publicly funded care programs.
Who is hurt
The Social Security Trust Funds, which would pay out higher future benefits without a corresponding increase in payroll tax contributions, potentially accelerating the projected 2034 insolvency date noted in the bill's own findings. Current and future Social Security beneficiaries who could face earlier benefit reductions if Trust Fund solvency is affected. Taxpayers who may ultimately bear costs of any Trust Fund shortfall. Paid professional home care workers who are not covered by this bill (the bill's own "Sense of the Senate" acknowledges this gap). Caregivers who exceed the 60-month cap and receive no credit for additional years of service.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that the current Social Security system systematically penalizes caregivers — predominantly women — by treating years of unpaid family care as zero-wage years that permanently reduce retirement benefits. They contend this creates a structural inequity: the same work that keeps elderly and disabled individuals out of costly institutional care goes entirely unrecognized in the retirement system. With an estimated 53 million Americans providing unpaid care annually (AARP, 2020), the bill addresses a large and documented gap in retirement security for a population that already faces higher poverty rates in old age.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that crediting deemed wages without corresponding payroll tax contributions would add unfunded liabilities to a Social Security Trust Fund the bill itself acknowledges is projected to be depleted by 2034, potentially accelerating benefit cuts for all retirees. They contend the bill's verification and certification requirements — relying on self-reporting and physician documentation — create significant fraud risk that the Commissioner of Social Security would struggle to police at scale. Critics also argue the 80-hour monthly threshold and five-year cap are arbitrary cutoffs that exclude many long-term caregivers while providing windfalls to those who qualify only marginally.
Constitutional context
Congress has broad authority to structure Social Security benefit formulas under the Taxing and Spending Clause (Art. I, §8, cl. 1), and the Supreme Court has long held that Congress may modify Social Security benefit rules without creating vested property rights (Flemming v. Nestor, 1960). No active constitutional tension is raised by this bill's mechanism of adjusting a benefit calculation formula within an existing program.
Checks and balances
Congress gains authority to define a new benefit calculation category within Social Security; the Commissioner of Social Security is directed to issue implementing regulations within one year, subject to judicial review; the bill includes an anti-fraud mandate requiring the Commissioner to establish certification and verification procedures.
Historical precedent
Several countries, including Germany and Canada, have implemented caregiver credit systems within their public pension programs; no directly analogous federal U.S. legislation has been enacted, though similar bills have been introduced in prior Congresses without passage.