A newly introduced bill in the Senate would significantly expand Social Security benefits for widows, widowers, and surviving divorced spouses with disabilities. Dubbed the SWIFT Act, this proposal would make sweeping changes to eligibility, benefit amounts, and how survivor benefits are calculated — potentially improving financial security for thousands of Americans by 2027.
What the SWIFT Act would change
The Surviving Widow(er) Income Fair Treatment Act of 2025 (SWIFT Act) proposes several key updates to the Social Security system:
- Remove age restrictions for disabled survivors: Benefits would be available at any age for disabled widows, widowers, and surviving divorced spouses.
- Eliminate early-claiming penalties: Disabled survivors who claim benefits before retirement age would no longer see reductions in their monthly payments.
- Allow remarriage without penalty: Individuals who remarry after becoming eligible for survivor benefits would remain eligible.
- Extend child-in-care benefit age: Parents caring for a child under 18 (or 19 if still in high school) would qualify for spousal benefits—up from the current limit of 16.
Bigger monthly checks for those who wait
The proposal would also increase monthly survivor benefits for those who delay claiming:
- Widows and widowers who wait past retirement age could receive increased monthly payments, similar to the delayed retirement credit system already used for regular Social Security benefits.
- This delayed benefit increase would begin starting January 1, 2027, and includes a built-in formula to calculate the monthly increase based on how long benefits were postponed.
No penalty for current benefit recipients
The bill includes protections for those already receiving federal or state assistance:
- If someone becomes newly eligible or sees an increase in survivor benefits due to this bill, those gains won’t count against their eligibility for other federal aid programs.
What happens next?
The SWIFT Act has been introduced by a coalition of Senate Democrats, including Senators Blumenthal, Gillibrand, Klobuchar, Murray, and Sanders. It has been referred to committee, where it will be debated and may be revised before any vote.
If passed, the changes would go into effect January 1, 2027, giving the Social Security Administration time to prepare—and giving affected individuals time to understand how their benefits may change.