Yes. California teachers who receive a CalSTRS pension can collect Social Security spousal benefits on a husband or wife’s earnings record, and as of benefits payable January 2024, those payments are no longer reduced by the Government Pension Offset. The Social Security Fairness Act, signed January 5, 2025, repealed the offset that had wiped out spousal and survivor benefits for most long-career educators.1Social Security Administration. Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) Update If you were denied a spousal or survivor benefit in the past, or never applied because the offset would have left you with nothing, you may now qualify for a monthly payment plus a lump sum going back to January 2024.
Why the Answer Used to Be No
CalSTRS is a non-covered pension system. Teachers do not pay the 6.2 percent Social Security tax on their district wages, and for decades the Government Pension Offset treated that as a reason to shrink any spousal or survivor Social Security benefit a teacher tried to claim on a spouse’s record. The formula subtracted two-thirds of the monthly CalSTRS pension from the Social Security payment.2Social Security Administration. Program Explainer: Government Pension Offset
For most retired teachers, that math ended the conversation. A $3,000 monthly CalSTRS pension produced a $2,000 offset, and a spousal benefit rarely exceeded that. Many teachers received nothing. Many never bothered to apply.3Social Security Administration. Government Pension Offset
The Social Security Fairness Act eliminated the offset entirely. December 2023 is the last month it affects any benefit calculation. From January 2024 forward, a CalSTRS pension no longer reduces a Social Security spousal or survivor benefit at all.1Social Security Administration. Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) Update
What to Do Now
The Social Security Administration began adjusting monthly benefits on February 25, 2025. By July 2025, it had sent more than 3.1 million payments totaling $17 billion to people affected by the repeal.1Social Security Administration. Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) Update Eligible beneficiaries receive a one-time lump sum covering the increase back to January 2024, plus a higher monthly payment going forward. What you need to do depends on where you stand.
If you are already receiving a reduced spousal or survivor benefit, you do not need to do anything as long as the SSA has your current mailing address and direct deposit information. Adjustments are being processed automatically. You can confirm your information by signing in to your my Social Security account at ssa.gov/myaccount.1Social Security Administration. Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) Update
If you never applied because the GPO would have zeroed out your benefit, you need to file. Apply online for spousal benefits at ssa.gov/apply. For survivor benefits, call 1-800-772-1213, because the survivor application is not available online. Your application date can affect when payments begin, so filing sooner matters.1Social Security Administration. Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) Update
Some cases require manual review and take longer than the automated processing. These include claims involving lump-sum pension distributions and overlapping entitlements.4Social Security Administration. Social Security Announces Expedited Retroactive Payments
Who Qualifies
With the offset gone, California teachers follow the same eligibility rules as anyone else claiming on a spouse’s record.
You must be at least 62. Claiming before your full retirement age, which falls between 66 and 67 depending on birth year, permanently reduces the monthly amount. Waiting until full retirement age gives you the maximum.5Social Security Administration. Benefits Planner: Retirement Age and Benefit Reduction
The marriage must have lasted at least one year. Divorced teachers can still claim on a former spouse’s record if the marriage lasted at least 10 years and they are currently unmarried. The former spouse does not need to agree or even know.6Social Security Administration. Who Can Get Family Benefits
Your spouse or former spouse must already be receiving Social Security retirement or disability benefits, or be eligible for them. And if you qualify for both your own retirement benefit and a spousal benefit, the SSA pays whichever is higher, not both.7Social Security Administration. What You Could Get From Family Benefits
Widowed and Remarried Teachers
Survivor benefits follow different rules. If your spouse has died, you can receive up to 100 percent of what they were receiving or entitled to receive, and survivor benefits start as early as age 60, or 50 with a qualifying disability.
Remarriage timing matters. If you remarried after age 60, you remain eligible for survivor benefits on your late spouse’s record. If you remarried before 60, you generally cannot collect survivor benefits from the prior spouse unless the later marriage ends by death, divorce, or annulment. Disabled surviving spouses who remarried after age 50 have their own exception.8Social Security Administration. Effect of Remarriage – Widow(er) Benefits
For a divorced teacher claiming spousal benefits on a living former spouse, remarriage disqualifies you from that record. You would claim on your current spouse’s record instead.
How Much You Can Receive
The maximum spousal benefit is 50 percent of your spouse’s primary insurance amount, which is the monthly benefit they earned on their own work record.9Social Security Administration. Benefits for Spouses You reach that full 50 percent only by waiting until your own full retirement age. Claiming earlier cuts it permanently.
If your spouse’s primary insurance amount is $2,400, your maximum spousal benefit at full retirement age is $1,200. A spouse who claims 36 months before full retirement age receives about 75 percent of that amount, and claiming even earlier reduces it further.5Social Security Administration. Benefits Planner: Retirement Age and Benefit Reduction
Survivor benefits can go up to 100 percent of the deceased spouse’s benefit rather than being capped at 50 percent.
What the Repeal Did Not Change
The Social Security Fairness Act removed the pension-based offset. It did not touch the ordinary rules that apply to any Social Security claimant, and those still shape what you actually receive.
- Claiming a spousal benefit before full retirement age permanently reduces the monthly amount. The reduction can reach 30 percent for someone claiming at 62 with a full retirement age of 67.5Social Security Administration. Benefits Planner: Retirement Age and Benefit Reduction
- If you claim before full retirement age and continue working, the SSA temporarily withholds $1 in benefits for every $2 you earn above an annual threshold. Withholding stops at full retirement age and your monthly benefit is recalculated upward.
- You cannot collect a full retirement benefit and a full spousal benefit at the same time. The SSA pays the higher of the two.7Social Security Administration. What You Could Get From Family Benefits
Log in to ssa.gov/myaccount to see your current benefit estimate, confirm your contact and deposit information, and file an application if you have been sitting out because of the old offset. For the first time in decades, a CalSTRS pension and a spousal or survivor Social Security benefit can be paid together with no federal reduction.