Social Security Spousal Benefits: How to Get Up to 50% of Your Spouse’s Benefit

A husband or wife can receive a Social Security spousal benefit worth up to 50% of the other spouse's full retirement benefit, even with little or no work history of their own. You get the full 50% only if you wait until your own full retirement age to claim; claiming as early as 62 cuts it to as little as 32.5%. If you also have your own benefit, Social Security pays the higher of the two, not both added together.

How the spousal benefit works

Social Security was designed with households in mind. A spouse who spent years at home raising children or caring for family, or who earned much less, can draw a benefit based on the higher earner's work record. Claiming it does not reduce the worker's own check at all.

The calculation starts with the worker's primary insurance amount, or PIA. That is the monthly benefit the worker would receive at their full retirement age (FRA), before any early-claiming reduction or delay credit. Our guide to how Social Security benefits are calculated explains where the PIA comes from.

The spousal benefit is up to half of that PIA. An important detail: it is based on the worker's PIA, not on the amount the worker actually receives. If the worker delays to 70 and earns delayed retirement credits, those credits raise the worker's own check but do not raise the spousal benefit.

Basic eligibility

• You are at least 62, or you are caring for the worker's child who is under 16 or disabled.
• You have been married to the worker for at least one year, in most cases.
• The worker has filed for their own retirement or disability benefits.

How claiming age changes the spousal benefit

Like a retirement benefit, a spousal benefit is reduced if you start it before your own full retirement age. The reduction for spouses is slightly steeper: 25/36 of 1% for each of the first 36 months early, and 5/12 of 1% for each additional month. The table below assumes your FRA is 67, which applies to anyone born in 1960 or later, and a worker PIA of $2,400.

The bottom row matters. Spousal benefits earn no delayed retirement credits, so a spouse who is only eligible for a spousal benefit gains nothing by waiting beyond full retirement age. Not sure when your FRA is? Use our full retirement age calculator.

If you also have your own work record

Many spouses worked long enough to earn their own retirement benefit. Social Security does not pay both in full. Instead, it pays your own benefit first and then adds a spousal "top-up" if half of your spouse's PIA is larger than your own PIA. In practice, you receive roughly the higher of the two.

Worked example: a top-up at full retirement age

Ruth's own PIA is $800. Her husband George's PIA is $2,400. Both wait until their FRA of 67 to claim.

• Half of George's PIA: $2,400 × 50% = $1,200
• Spousal top-up: $1,200 − $800 = $400
• Ruth's total: her own $800 + $400 top-up = $1,200 a month

Worked example: no top-up

If Ruth's own PIA were $1,300, it would already be larger than $1,200, so she would receive only her own benefit. There would be no spousal addition.

Claiming early with both benefits

When you file for one benefit before FRA, you are generally treated as filing for both, and each piece is reduced separately. Suppose Ruth claims at 62:

• Her own benefit at 62 is 70% of $800 = $560.
• Her spousal top-up of $400 is reduced to 65% (32.5% ÷ 50%): $400 × 65% = $260.
• Her total at 62 is $560 + $260 = $820, instead of $1,200 at FRA.

By claiming five years early, Ruth gives up $380 a month ($1,200 − $820), or $4,560 a year. In exchange, she collects 60 extra monthly payments before 67. Those reductions are permanent, and later cost-of-living increases are applied to the smaller amount, so it pays to run the numbers before deciding. Our when to claim calculator can help you weigh the options.

Benefits for divorced spouses

A former spouse may be able to collect on an ex-spouse's record, and doing so has no effect on the ex-spouse's benefit or on the benefits of a current spouse. You generally need to meet these conditions:

• The marriage lasted 10 years or longer.
• You are currently unmarried.
• You are at least 62.
• The benefit based on your own work is less than the spousal amount.

One helpful difference: if you have been divorced for at least two years, you can usually collect even if your ex-spouse has not yet filed, provided the ex-spouse is at least 62 and eligible. The same age reductions apply as for a current spouse.

Strategies for married couples

Because spousal benefits stop growing at FRA but the worker's own benefit keeps growing to 70, couples often look at these ideas:

• Let the lower-earning spouse claim at FRA rather than later, since there is no gain from delay on a spousal benefit.
• Consider delaying the higher earner's benefit. Delay credits of 8% a year do not raise the spousal benefit, but they do raise the survivor benefit. If the higher earner dies first, the surviving spouse can step up to that larger amount. Our guide to survivor benefits explains how.
• Watch the earnings test. A spouse who claims before FRA and keeps working can have benefits withheld under the 2027 earnings limit.
• Remember taxes. Married couples filing jointly may owe tax on part of their benefits once combined income exceeds $32,000. See our Social Security tax calculator.

Also note that the Social Security Fairness Act, signed in January 2025, repealed the Government Pension Offset. Spouses with a pension from work not covered by Social Security, such as some teachers and public employees, no longer have their spousal benefits reduced by that pension.

This guide is for general education and is not financial, tax or legal advice. Rules and amounts can change; confirm details with the Social Security Administration, the IRS or Medicare. Spotted an error? Let us know.