Millions of older Americans collect a monthly Social Security benefit. And without that income, many would be unable to cover even basic expenses like shelter and food.

But living on Social Security alone isn’t easy. Not only do some seniors not collect a very large benefit, but benefits on a whole have historically done a poor job of keeping up with inflation — and that’s despite the fact that they’re eligible for a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) every year.

The purpose of COLAs

There are plenty of people who collect Social Security for several decades. But over time, the value of money tends to erode due to inflation. The purpose of Social Security COLAs is to help seniors maintain their buying power even as inflation drives living costs up.

COLAs are specifically tied to inflation, so during periods when it’s rampant, COLAs tend to be more generous. During periods of light or moderate inflations, Social Security COLAs are smaller. And when there’s a decrease in inflation from one year to another, Social Security benefits don’t get a COLA — but they also won’t decrease from one year to the next.

The problem with Social Security COLAs

In theory, Social Security COLAs should help seniors keep up with their expenses as inflation impacts living costs. In practice, they tend to fail. And the reason boils down to a flaw in the way they’re calculated.

Social Security COLAs are based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). But that index is not very reflective of the costs Social Security recipients tend to face.

Because many Social Security beneficiaries, by nature, aren’t wage earners, they don’t tend to spend as much on transportation as the population covered by the CPI-W. Seniors also tend to spend more on healthcare than the general population, making the CPI-W an imperfect measure for determining what COLAs look like every year.

In fact, the nonpartisan Senior Citizens League analyzed Social Security benefits and COLAs and found that between 2010 and 2024, beneficiaries lost 20% of their buying power. The group also found that Social Security recipients would need an additional $4,442 per year, on average, to make it so that their Social Security benefits would have the same buying power they did back in 2010.

A change is sorely needed

Clearly, there’s a problem with the way Social Security COLAs are calculated, and it’s one that’s been impacting seniors for many years. So at this point, lawmakers should try to put their heads together and come up with a better system.

Advocates have suggested using the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly to calculate COLAs since this method would better capture the costs that Social Security recipients face. It would also account for increases in those costs — like healthcare, which has risen exponentially in recent years.

But unfortunately, lawmakers have other Social Security issues to tackle, like the program’s pending financial shortfall and the potential for benefit cuts. Recent estimates have Social Security’s combined trust funds running dry in about a decade’s time, which means broad benefit cuts may not be that far off.

And as much as insufficient COLAs are an issue, sweeping Social Security cuts are an even bigger problem. So while a change to the program’s COLAs is definitely needed, whether it comes through in the near term is questionable.

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