Cost Of Living Adjustment, By law, Social Security benefits increase automatically to keep pace with inflation

Social Security COLA: Congress Gets Pay Raise, Seniors & Others Did Not

By Daniel T. Zanoza
Friday, January 22, 2010

I’m sure many senior citizens, handicapped and those who are temporarily disabled noticed their Social Security check did not include a Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA) for 2010. In fact, it is possible Social Security recipients will not receive a COLA for up to three years, according to reports out of Washington, D.C.

This is the first year a COLA increase has not been afforded to Social Security recipients for over 30 years.

For those of you who have parents or grandparents who were surprised to learn they will have to live on the same amount of money per month in 2010 that they did in 2009, they shouldn’t have been. The Social Security Administration announced last year there would be no cost of living adjustment in 2010.

All Social Security recipients receive a statement of benefits in late December every year. This is the information regarding this year’s benefits which was sent to all recipients.

“By law, Social Security benefits increase automatically to keep pace with inflation. when there is no period of inflation, the law does not permit an increase in benefits. Based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) published by the Department of Labor, there was no rise in the cost of living during the past year, so your benefit will remain the same in 2010. The CPI is the federal government’s official measure to calculate cost-of-living increases.â€