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Social Security Eligibility Rules: What Are The Requirements For A Homemaker To Qualify For Social Security? When Social Security was first established, most families only had one bread-earner, and only the working spouse was eligible for retirement benefits. This resulted in financial challenges for the spouse who didn't work (and so 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 income.
The family dynamic has changed a lot since Social Security was established 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 own income.
There are several requirements in order to meet the criteria 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, like survivor benefits or disability benefits may be collected at an earlier age, but the Social Security eligibility rules expect you to be age 62 before you can request for retirement benefits.
- Work Credits: You have to work in a Social Security supported job (i.e., where you contribute to Social Security through payroll tax deductions) for a minimum of 40 credits to qualify for retirement benefits. You can gain up to four credits per year; so essentially, you must work for 10 years to be eligible 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 avail Social Security retirement benefits. Workers who pay into the Social Security program may qualify for benefits even if they are not U.S. citizens, however they must stay in the U.S. to actually collect benefits.
So... do spouses qualify for Social Security? Considering Social Security eligibility criteria stated above, most full-time housewives will not qualify for retirement benefits on their own, unless they were employed for 10 years (40 credits) before they became a homemaker.
But, homemakers are entitled for benefits based on their spouse's earnings. Social Security spousal benefits allow husbands and wives to get retirement benefits based on their spouse's salary if they result in a more benefit than their own. To be more explicit, a spouse who has not worked or who has significantly lower earnings than their husband or wife can get up to as much as half of their spouse's total retirement benefit.
Apart from spousal benefits, homemakers may also qualify for Social Security survivor benefits. Widows and widowers can start collecting Social Security benefits based on their late spouse's earnings beginning at age 60 (age 50 if they are handicapped). Children of deceased employees who are less than age 18 (19 if they are still in high school) may also qualify for survivor benefits. This is very beneficial for families with small children when the main bread earner dies at an early age.
While full-time homemakers who have never worked or who have worked for less than 10 years normally won't qualify for Social Security retirement benefits on their own, basically, they may be eligible for benefits depending on their husband's earnings. Note: while this write-up has assumed that the homemaker is female, Social Security is gender neutral, so males who choose to stay home to raise the kids can also qualify for spousal and survivor benefits.
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