Social Security Benefits Predicted to Increase Next Year by $1,900

By Matis Glenn

People who receive Social Security might see a large increase in their benefits – to the tune of $1,900 annually – to keep up with inflation, CBS News reports.

The increase was estimated by the Senior Citizens League, a non-profit group which advocates on behalf of elderly Americans. The prediction is based on the policy of the Social Security Administration’s policy of determining annual benefits, which takes into account inflation rates of July, August and September. That equation is called the “cost of living adjustment.”  Last year’s COLA of 5.9 percent fell short of 2022’s inflation, which hit a 40-year high of 9.1 percent, causing many senior citizens financial hardships.

The amount of senior citizens who receive government assistance for lower-income people more than doubled this year to 37 percent, up from 16 percent in 2021, according to census data.

The Social Security Administration announces its decision every October.

“A high COLA will be eagerly anticipated to address an ongoing shortfall in benefits that Social Security beneficiaries are experiencing in 2022 as inflation runs higher than their 5.9% COLA,” Mary Johnson, Social Security and Medicare policy analyst at the Senior Citizens League told CBS in an email. 

Average monthly benefits for 2022 stand at $1,656, but Johnson says that the typical senior citizen needs $58 more per month to get by.