For decades, two provisions — the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) — reduced or eliminated Social Security benefits for people who also received a pension from work not covered by Social Security, mainly teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other state and local government employees. The Social Security Fairness Act repealed both, retroactive to benefits payable after December 2023.
What WEP and GPO actually did
WEP reduced your own Social Security retirement or disability benefit if you also received a pension from a job where you didn't pay Social Security taxes. It used a less generous formula, cutting your benefit by up to several hundred dollars a month depending on your work history.
GPO reduced spousal or survivor Social Security benefits for people receiving a government pension — often by two-thirds of the pension amount, which for many retirees eliminated the spousal or survivor benefit entirely.
Both provisions are now repealed. If you were affected, your monthly benefit going forward should reflect the full, un-reduced amount, and SSA has been issuing retroactive lump-sum payments for the period the repeal covers.
Who this affects
Roughly 2.8 million people were affected by WEP or GPO before the repeal — concentrated heavily among:
Public school teachers
In the roughly 15 states where teachers don't pay into Social Security through their teaching job.
Firefighters & police
Many municipal and state public safety pensions fall outside the Social Security system.
Federal employees (CSRS)
Those under the older Civil Service Retirement System, not the newer FERS.
Spouses of the above
GPO hit spousal and survivor benefits even for people who never held the government job themselves.
What to do now
Check your "my Social Security" account
Log in at ssa.gov to see your current benefit calculation. If you were affected by WEP or GPO, your benefit statement should now reflect the un-reduced amount.
Confirm your retroactive payment
SSA has been processing retroactive payments covering the repeal period automatically for most beneficiaries — you generally don't need to file anything new if you were already receiving a reduced benefit.
If you never applied because WEP/GPO made it not worth it
If you were previously told your spousal or survivor benefit would be reduced to zero by GPO and never filed, it's worth applying now — you may be entitled to a benefit you didn't have before.
Your benefit estimate may have changed
If your retirement plan was built around a WEP-reduced number, it's worth a fresh look with a financial advisor — especially around claiming timing.
Common questions
Do I need to file anything to get the repeal applied?
If you were already receiving a WEP- or GPO-reduced benefit, SSA has generally been recalculating and issuing retroactive payments automatically. If you never filed because GPO would have zeroed out your benefit, you should file a new application.
Does this affect my pension amount?
No — this only affects your Social Security benefit calculation. Your government pension itself is unchanged.
I'm not retired yet — does this change my planning?
Potentially significantly. If you'd previously planned around a WEP-reduced estimate, your actual future benefit may be meaningfully higher — worth running new numbers before finalizing a claiming strategy.