Social Security COLAs (1975 to 2014)

The very first Social Security check (check number 00-000-001) was issued to Ida May Fuller in the amount of $22.54 and dated January 31, 1940.

(The charts below are from the St. Louis Fed) Historical Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. As you can see, inflation really began taking off ever since the 1970s.

Beginning in 1975, Social Security started automatic annual cost-of-living allowances (COLAs). The change was enacted by legislation that ties COLAs to the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W).

The chart below shows inflation since the Great Recession started in December 2007 to the present in October 2014. The chart depicts the small red square in the chart above. The only significant drop in inflation happened during the Great Recession (when apartment rents actually went down, instead of up.)

Most recent SS COLAs:

• For 2009 there was a 5.8% COLA for monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) checks.
• Benefits did not automatically increase in 2010 and 2011 as there was no increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W) from the third quarter of 2008 to the third quarter of 2009.
• Based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W) from the third quarter of 2008 through the third quarter of 2011, Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries received a 3.6 percent COLA for 2012.
• Based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W) from the third quarter of 2011 through the third quarter of 2012, Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries received a 1.7 percent COLA for 2013.
• The last COLA was 1.5 percent for Social Security benefits and SSI payments, which were payable starting in January 2014.