Social Security finally counts unpaid family caregiving toward retirement benefits

What it does

This bill amends Social Security to credit unpaid family caregivers with deemed wages for up to five years of caregiving work. If someone spends at least 80 hours per month caring for a child under 12 or a chronically dependent relative without pay, Social Security will credit them with wages equal to 50% of the national average wage index (or the difference between that amount and any actual wages earned that month), which counts toward their retirement and survivor benefits.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core mechanism is a straightforward expansion of Social Security's deemed-wage system to recognize unpaid caregiving work. It is a social-insurance expansion, not a tax cut, subsidy, or deregulation—it extends an existing benefit structure to a previously excluded population.

What the text implies

• The bill caps credited months at 60 lifetime (five years), meaning caregivers who provide care for longer periods receive no additional credit beyond that threshold—a hard ceiling that may not reflect actual caregiving duration.
• Deemed wages are calculated at 50% of the national average wage index, which is substantially lower than actual wages most workers earn, so the retirement benefit boost, while real, is modest relative to full-time work.
• The bill requires physician documentation for dependent relatives over age 12 to prove chronic dependence, creating a gatekeeping mechanism that may exclude caregivers of relatives with non-obvious disabilities or those without regular medical care.
• Caregivers must affirmatively apply and certify their status; passive enrollment is not available, meaning eligible caregivers who do not navigate the application process receive no benefit.
• The provision in section 2(b) regarding 'professional and hardworking home care providers' who are paid by state/local programs but ineligible for Social Security or Medicare is identified as a problem in the Sense of Congress but is NOT addressed by the bill's operative mechanism—this is a stated concern without a legislative solution.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Unpaid family caregivers—predominantly women—gain Social Security credits and retirement income security for work currently invisible to the system. The bill recognizes caregiving as economically valuable and protects caregivers from poverty in old age, addressing a documented gap in retirement security for those who leave the workforce to care for children or disabled relatives.

Who stands to gain

• unpaid family caregivers (individuals)
• Social Security Trust Funds (reduced future benefit obligations if caregivers die before claiming or

Named in the bill

Social Security Administration, Commissioner of Social Security, Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Tr, Department of Veterans Affairs (section 1720G reference)

Where it stands

4 cosponsors: 4 Democrats.

• Apr 23, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Apr 23, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

2 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $50,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 32 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.

Brad Schneider, the sponsor, reported $1,408,249 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• The Als Association — $30,000 on 1 filing
• Social Security Works — $20,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.