The Social Security Administration’s Friday announcement of a 2.8% bump in benefits next year was immediately blasted by critics — who called the increase inadequate to keep up with soaring costs of food, housing and health care.
The SSA said the adjustment, known as the cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, will raise average monthly payments to Social Security recipients by about $56 starting in January.
The hike applies to retirement, disability and supplemental income checks for roughly 71 million Americans.
The outcry was immediate. Senior groups said the increase was too small to offset real-world inflation pressures and accused Washington of ignoring retirees’ financial struggles.
“The 2026 COLA is going to hurt for seniors,” said Shannon Benton, executive director of the nonpartisan Senior Citizens League.
“Year after year, they warn that Social Security’s meager increases won’t be enough.”
Benton said her group’s research suggests that nearly one in ten retirement-age Americans lives in poverty — and that the true figure could be higher.
“It’s about time our elected representatives show up for seniors, or else seniors won’t show up for them at the voting booth,” she said.
The modest increase came despite the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting prices up 3% over the past year, fueled by stubborn housing and medical costs.
Analysts said the difference reflects how the government calculates the COLA — based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI-W — a formula critics say underestimates how inflation affects retirees.
Older Americans spend more on health care and essentials that rise faster than average inflation, Benton said, arguing for a switch to the CPI-E, a measure designed to capture seniors’ spending habits.
Her group also called for a minimum 3% annual adjustment.
Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano defended the calculation, saying the annual adjustment “is one way we are working to make sure benefits reflect today’s economic realities and continue to provide a foundation of security.”
Bisignano’s agency had delayed the announcement by more than a week because of the government shutdown that stalled September inflation data.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics recalled furloughed workers to finish the report and allow the COLA release to move forward.
The announcement lands as Social Security faces deeper financial strains.
Earlier forecasts warn the retirement trust fund could be depleted within seven years, forcing automatic benefit cuts of as much as 24% if Congress fails to act.
Economists said the 2.8% raise roughly matches average COLAs over the past decade, which have averaged 3.1%, but doesn’t reflect how sharply costs have risen for retirees in recent years.
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