Social Security benefits increase by 8.7 percent to account for inflation

Social Security
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The Social Security Administration has announced an 8.7 percent increase in benefit checks for seniors in 2023 in response to rising inflation. This is the largest increase in the last 40 years. This change is known as a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), explains The Washington Post.

The adjustment will affect 70.3 million Social Security beneficiaries and will provide about $145 more per month on average, the Post continues. The last time the adjustment was this large was in 1981 when the COLA was 11.2 percent. Along with check increases, the Medicare Part B premium will also be $5.20 lower than last year, a value that is automatically deducted from benefit checks, CNBC reports. This means that beneficiaries get to keep almost all of the COLA, which will help with rising prices due to inflation.

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Devika Rao, The Week US

 Devika Rao has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022, covering science, the environment, climate and business. She previously worked as a policy associate for a nonprofit organization advocating for environmental action from a business perspective.