Social Security Could Get Biggest Cost-Of-Living Increase In 40 Years Amid COVID-19-Related Inflation Surge

<byline>By Paul Davidson - USA TODAY<byline>

After years of puny increases in their Social Security checks, older Americans will likely get the equivalent of a big raise next year.

The 68 million people -- including retirees, disabled people and others – who rely on the benefits are likely to receive a 6% to 6.1% cost-of-living adjustment next year because of a COVID-19-related spike in inflation, according to the Senior Citizen League.

Such a rise would far outpace 1.4% average bumps in Social Security payments since 2010 and amount to the largest increase since 1982, according to the Senior Citizen League.

For the average retiree who got a monthly check of $1,559 this year, a 6% rise would increase that payment by $93.54, to $1,652.54, in 2022.

Next month, the Social Security Administration will announce its cost-of-living adjustment for 2022 based on average annual increases in the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers, or CPI-W, from July through September. The CPI-W largely reflects the broad CPI index the Labor Department reports each month.