The government can take 15% of Social Security benefits to repay student loans. These proposals seek to stop it.

By Jessica Hall

Debt among older Americans is rising, both in terms of the number of older households carrying debt and the amount borrowed

Nearly 10 million student-loan borrowers age 50 and older hold almost $457 billion in outstanding loans.

Two new bills in Congress seek to protect older adults from having their Social Security benefits garnished to repay outstanding student loans, in moves meant to provide some relief for the fastest-growing population of debtors.

The Protection of Social Security Benefits Restoration Act, introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, and Rep. Adelita Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat, would restore protections to Social Security that changed in 1996. At that time, the federal government was empowered to claw back Social Security benefits to collect delinquent federal nontax debts such as student loans.

"Social Security should not be able to garnish benefits that American workers earned over a lifetime of hard work on account of outstanding student debt or other federal loans," Wyden said in a press statement. "With inflation and rising costs of living, Congress must take the financial burden off struggling seniors and Americans with disabilities at risk of seeing their Social Security benefits cut."

Another proposal, called "The Stop Social Security Garnishment Act," from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Independent, was also introduced in September after being first announced in August. The bill is co-sponsored by U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, both Massachusetts Democrats.

"In the richest country in the history of the world, no senior should have their Social Security payments taken away from them to pay back student debt. This is especially true when seniors throughout the country already cannot afford the skyrocketing price of healthcare, prescription drugs, groceries and housing," Sanders said in a press statement.

This comes at a time when debt among older Americans is rising, both in terms of the number of older households carrying debt and the amount borrowed. A total of 53% of households headed by someone age 75 or older had debt in 2022, compared to 32% in 1992, according to the Federal Reserve. Meanwhile, costs for everyday items, healthcare and housing are also climbing. People are living longer and it's not uncommon for retirement to last 20 to 30 years, and if you're in debt when you're retired it's difficult to get a job to try and pay off the debt.

Social Security is crucial to the finances of older adults, with 44% of older Americans depending on the program for all of their income, up from 39% in 2025, according to the Senior Citizens League. The average Social Security retirement benefit was about $2,087 a month as of August, according to the Social Security Administration.

Under current law, the federal government can garnish up to 15% of a monthly Social Security check to recover defaulted loan debt. That would mean a cut of about $313 a month from the average benefit. Garnishment of Social Security was paused during the pandemic, resumed briefly in May 2025 and paused again the next month. In January, the Department of Education issued another delay, allowing time for the implementation of new payment plans under the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," signed into law last year. The garnishments have not yet resumed.

"Older debtors are the fastest growing demographic of debtors," said Eleni Schirmer, an organizer with the Debt Collective, debtor activist organization, who is writing a book on the rise of aging borrowers. "Older debtors are hopeful this passes and it's a tiny step towards relieving their burden."

About 9.6 million student loan borrowers are aged 50 and older, holding nearly $457 billion in outstanding loans, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Among federal loans, borrowers between the ages of 50 and 61 have the highest average loan balance of $48,875, according to the Education Data Initiative.

The amount of Social Security benefits that the Department of Education collected increased from $16.2 million in 2001 to $429.7 million in 2019, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In 2019, the average amount collected from individual beneficiaries was $186 per month.

"Social Security is not a handout - it is a benefit earned over decades of hard work. Retirees deserve to know that money will be there when they need it," Grijalva said. "At a time when the cost of living continues to rise, seniors living on fixed incomes can't afford to have their Social Security benefits taken away."

-Jessica Hall

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10-02-26 1450ET