1、 https:/crsreports.congress.gov September 22, 2021Social Security: The Average Wage IndexBackground Recent news articles suggest a possible decrease in national average wages due to the recent recession caused by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Such a decrease would have a negative
2、 impact on the Social Security benefits of individuals who reached age 60 in 2020. Social Security benefits are tied to a workers earnings record but are also affected by changes in national wage levels, price levels, and claiming age. Congressional interest in this issue may be high because of the
3、large number of potential beneficiaries for whom benefits would be affected by a decrease in average wages as measured by the Social Security Administrations (SSAs) average wage index (AWI). Many other parameters used by the SSA are adjusted automatically (typically on an annual basis) based on chan
4、ges in national average wages. Projections for 2020 In July 2021, the Congressional Budget Office released its updated baseline projections, which included several projections for Social Security parameters. It estimates the 2020 AWI will be $54,036.00. This would represent a decrease of about 0.001