Rep. Haley Stevens Announces Bill to Lower Social Security Age for Americans Who Work With Their Hands

Washington, DC — Today, Michigan Congresswoman Haley Stevens (MI-11) announced the Blue Collar Social Security Fairness Act, a bill to allow Americans who work in physically demanding jobs to collect full Social Security retirement benefits when they turn 60.

Under current law, Americans born after 1960 can begin collecting full Social Security retirement benefits at age 67 or reduced early retirement at age 62. But far too often, those who work in manual labor cannot continue working until 67 to receive the full benefits they’ve earned. Unable to claim full retirement benefits and with the strains of their day-to-day blue-collar work becoming increasingly unbearable, these workers find themselves in a difficult position as they look towards retirement.

Stevens’ bill lowers the eligible age for full retirement benefits to 60 for Americans who work in such jobs, including but not limited to construction, roofing, nursing, manufacturing, and more. The bill directs the Social Security Administration to identify and publish a comprehensive list of physically demanding occupations that would be covered under this law, and continue updating that list every three years.

“Michiganders who work with their hands shouldn’t be forced to wait until their bodies give out to retire,” said Rep. Haley Stevens. “If we want to honor the dignity of work in this country, we need to lower the retirement age for physical laborers. I look forward to bringing together my colleagues in Congress to fix this glaring issue for Michigan workers, strengthen Social Security, and ensure its solvency for generations of Americans to come.”

At a time when America needs more people to enter the skilled trades and labor-intensive careers, Stevens’ bill creates a new incentive for Americans to pursue these jobs with the promise of retiring early and receiving their full Social Security benefits.

The bill doesn’t require Americans to exclusively work in physically demanding jobs their whole careers to become eligible. Rather, it establishes a weighted points system based on years worked to assess eligibility. If an individual reaches a total of 15 points or 20 total years of physically demanding work across their career, they qualify for early retirement once they turn 60. The points are tabulated as follows:

• 0.5 points for each year worked from the ages of 18-34
• 1 point for each year worked from the ages of 35-44
• 1 year worked from the ages of 45-54 counts as 1.5 points
• 1 year worked above the age of 55 until an individual passes away counts as 2 points

Text of the bill can be found here.

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