Social Security 2026 COLA Plans Spark Concern Over Insufficient Benefit Increases

Starting in January 2026, nearly 75 million Americans receiving Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will see their monthly payments increase by 2.8%, averaging about $52 more per month. However, many beneficiaries express concern that this cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is insufficient to cover rising expenses such as housing, healthcare, and food, with surveys indicating that over half of recipients find the increase inadequate. A significant portion of recipients, especially older women who tend to live longer, feel forced to return to work due to the inadequacy of their Social Security benefits. The COLA is based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), which often underestimates inflation impacts on seniors, particularly in healthcare and housing costs, compared to the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E). Advocacy groups highlight that 69% of COLAs in recent decades have failed to keep pace with actual inflation experienced by retirees, further eroding their financial security. Despite the annual adjustments intended to protect purchasing power since 1975, the consensus among beneficiaries is that a larger COLA—potentially 6% or more—is needed to adequately offset living cost increases.