Comments on the Social Security Notch Issue

Gao ID: T-HRD-92-46 July 23, 1992

The Social Security "notch" refers to a perceived inequity in benefits for people born between 1917 and 1921, due to a change in benefit computation introduced in 1977 amendments to the Social Security Act. GAO testified that notch babies generally collect more benefits than most coming before or after them, and the perception that they receive less is based on a comparison with a group that got an unintended windfall from the system as a result of a flawed benefit formula. GAO believes that a "fix" is not warranted and that proposed legislation to address the notch issue should not be pursued.



The Justia Government Accountability Office site republishes public reports retrieved from the U.S. GAO These reports should not be considered official, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Justia.