Senior Advocates Demand Change Following Modest Social Security Increase for 2025

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Senior advocacy groups have expressed disappointment and concern following the Social Security Administration’s recent announcement of a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2025. This update, perceived as insufficient, marks a significant drop from the previous years’ adjustments of 3.2% in 2024 and 8.7% in 2023, raising alarms about the financial well-being of millions of older Americans reliant on Social Security.

A Closer Look at the Adjustment

The newly announced increase translates to an additional $50 per month for the average beneficiary. While any increase might seem better than none, Shannon Benton, Executive Director of The Senior Citizens League—one of the nation’s largest nonpartisan seniors groups—argues that this adjustment barely scratches the surface of what is needed to help seniors cope with ongoing inflation and rising costs of living.

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Inadequate Adjustments Amid Rising Costs

The adjustment is particularly concerning given the persistent high costs of essential goods and services. For seniors living on fixed incomes, these costs pose significant challenges. Many are struggling to afford basic necessities such as food, housing, and healthcare—a situation only exacerbated by the modest rise in Social Security benefits.

Benton pointed out, “Persistent high costs are really presenting a significant challenge for senior citizens who are on fixed incomes and it really highlights the need for legislative measures to ensure that Social Security benefits are keeping up with inflation.”

Flawed Measures of Inflation

A core issue with the COLA is its basis on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). This metric tracks the spending patterns of employed urban and clerical workers, not retirees. Advocacy groups like The Senior Citizens League argue that this measure fails to accurately reflect the inflation experienced by seniors, particularly in areas critical to their everyday lives such as healthcare.

Benton suggests a more suitable approach would be to use an inflation index that specifically considers the spending patterns of seniors. This would likely capture the higher proportions of income that seniors spend on healthcare, including Medicare premiums and out-of-pocket costs, which have been rising sharply.

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Impact on Medicare and Healthcare Costs

The increase in Social Security benefits is further diluted by the rise in Medicare Part B premiums, which are deducted directly from recipients’ checks. This means that the nominal increase in their Social Security income is offset by higher healthcare costs, leaving many seniors no better off than they were the year before.

Benton emphasizes the burden on seniors seeking Medicare or supplemental insurance, who “are really bearing the brunt of the increases in [cost].” Such financial pressures call into question the adequacy of current legislative measures to protect financially vulnerable seniors.

Calls for Legislative Action

In light of these challenges, senior advocacy groups are calling for legislative reforms to the way Social Security COLA is calculated. By aligning the index with the actual expenditure patterns of seniors, lawmakers could provide a more realistic increase that genuinely helps to offset the cost of living increases faced by the elderly population.

The groups advocate for a robust dialogue among policymakers to address these urgent issues. As Benton states, “It’s time we recognize the unique financial pressures faced by our seniors and adjust our systems to offer not just nominal, but meaningful support.”

Notification of Changes

The Social Security Administration has stated that beneficiaries will be notified of the changes to their benefits in December, giving seniors time to plan their finances for the coming year. However, without substantive changes to the calculation of the COLA, such notifications may offer little solace to those struggling to make ends meet.

Our Final Thoughts

As we approach the implementation of the 2025 COLA, it is clear that a broader reassessment of how increases are determined is crucial. Advocacy groups and concerned citizens alike hope that this recent update serves as a wake-up call to policymakers about the need for a system that more accurately and fairly compensates America’s seniors for the rising costs of living. This issue, if left unaddressed, is poised to deepen the financial insecurity among one of the nation’s most vulnerable populations, making legislative action not just beneficial, but necessary.