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Social Security beneficiaries will see a 1.3% increase to their monthly checks in 2021.
The amount was announced on Tuesday by the Social Security Administration, and was in line with previous estimates.
Last month, The Senior Citizens League, a nonpartisan advocacy group for older Americans, projected a 1.3% boost, based on available Consumer Price Index data.
The 1.3% increase is not necessarily good news for retirees and other beneficiaries, many of whom may have had a tougher time stretching their benefit checks in 2020, thanks to Covid-19.
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A 1.3% increase is smaller than the 1.6% bump to benefits that retirees and other beneficiaries saw in 2020. In 2019, they received a 2.8% boost to their monthly checks.
But it is bigger than those in some recent years. In 2010, 2011 and 2016, the COLA was zero. In 2017, it was 0.3%.
The average cost-of-living adjustment since 2010 has been 1.4%. Between 1999 and 2009, annual increases averaged 3%.
The change is calculated using the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI-W.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
