Child & Family Benefits and the 2027 COLA
The 2027 family-maximum formula
When a worker's spouse and children are also paid on the record, the SSA caps the total (excluding the worker's own benefit adjustments) at the family maximum:
| Slice of the worker's PIA | Counted at |
|---|---|
| First $1,712 | 150% |
| $1,712 – $2,471 | 272% |
| $2,471 – $3,223 | 134% |
| Above $3,223 | 175% |
| Worker's PIA | Family maximum (2027 formula) | After the 3.6% COLA year | As a share of PIA |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1,500 | $2,250.00 | $2,331.00 | 150% of PIA |
| $2,000 | $3,351.36 | $3,472.01 | 168% of PIA |
| $3,000 | $5,341.34 | $5,533.63 | 178% of PIA |
| $4,188 | $7,328.91 | $7,592.75 | 175% of PIA |
The bend points are indexed to national wages and published with the COLA fact sheet; the percentages are statutory. Disability family maximums follow a different, tighter rule (the lesser of 85% of AIME or 150% of PIA, but not less than the PIA itself).
Who is paid on the record, and how the COLA treats them
Children — unmarried, under 18 (or up to 19 if a full-time elementary or secondary student), or disabled before age 22 — receive up to 50% of the worker's PIA on a living worker's record and up to 75% on a deceased worker's record (see the survivors calculator). A spouse caring for an eligible child under 16 receives a spousal benefit without the usual age-62 requirement or early-claiming reduction. Each of these benefits is a fixed percentage of the PIA, so each rises by the full 3.6% when the PIA does.
When the cap binds: if the percentages add up to more than the family maximum, the SSA reduces the family members' benefits proportionally — never the worker's own. The COLA does not change that arithmetic; it scales both the claims and the cap, so a capped family's split stays proportionally identical while the total grows 3.6%. One member aging out (a child turning 18, for instance) frees room under the cap and the remaining members' reductions are recomputed — a raise that arrives on top of, and separate from, the COLA.
Frequently asked questions
How does the COLA affect family benefits?
Both sides of the cap rise together: each family member's benefit is a percentage of the worker's PIA, which the COLA raises by 3.6%, and the family maximum itself is recomputed from the COLA-adjusted PIA using the 2027 bend points. A family already at the maximum therefore sees its combined total rise by about 3.6%, split among members in the same proportions.
What is the family maximum in 2027?
It is a formula, not a single number: 150% of the first $1,712 of the worker's PIA, plus 272% of the PIA between $1,712 and $2,471, plus 134% between $2,471 and $3,223, plus 175% above $3,223. For a $2,000 PIA that produces a family maximum of about $3,351 a month in 2027.
How much does a child receive?
On a living worker's record, an eligible child receives up to 50% of the worker's PIA; on a deceased worker's record, up to 75%. 'Eligible' generally means unmarried and under 18 (or 18–19 and a full-time elementary/secondary student), or a disabled adult child whose disability began before age 22.
If the family total exceeds the maximum, whose check is cut?
The worker's own benefit is never reduced by the family maximum. The auxiliary benefits — spouse, children, and other family members on the record — are reduced proportionally so the total fits under the cap. A divorced spouse's benefit is not counted against the family maximum at all.
Sources: SSA family-maximum formula and 2027 bend points (SSA 2027 fact sheet via RRB/SSA tables); SSA rules for child's and family benefits.