Social Security Survival Benefits
Although gay and lesbian Americans contribute to Social Security throughout their working lives, their families are denied the same benefits heterosexual Americans receive upon the death of a spouse. Specifically:
- Partners who are retired or disabled are denied surviving spouse benefits because they were denied the right to marry.
- Partners raising children are denied Social Security surviving parent benefits because they were previously denied the right to legally marry.
- Children may also be denied Social Security surviving child benefits if the deceased parent was barred from securing a legal relationship to his or her child through second-parent adoption.
This loss of income can be substantial. For example, surviving partners who are 60 years old will lose an average of $9,780 a year – or approximately $166,000 if they live to the average life expectancy of 77. (Based on Social Security Administration calculations that Social Security survivor benefits averaged $815 per month in 2002.)
If there are surviving children, the loss of income is potentially even greater. For example, when a working parent was denied the opportunity to establish a legal relationship to his or her child through second-parent adoption, that child will also be denied the right to Social Security survivor benefits upon that parent’s death. This could translate to a loss of $900 per month, or $10,000 per year, for a child whose parent worked for at least 10 years and earned at least $50,000 in the last year of his or her life.
What HRC is Doing
The Human Rights Campaign legal staff and lobbyists are working to educate members of Congress on the vast inequities in Social Security benefits. HRC is strongly encouraging the Bush administration to require that any Social Security reform effort ensures that these critical survivor benefits are available to all Americans in committed, long-term relationships; and ensure that federal law ceases to penalize children for their parents’ marital status, especially when their parents are prohibited from marrying.
HRC is also working to educate voters and legislators about the inequities in federal law, and promoting numerous federal legislative proposals that would reduce and eventually eliminate the unfair cost of being gay.