Could Social Security child benefits help grandparent caregivers?

Liu, Siyan, and Laura D. Quinby. “Could Social Security child benefits help grandparent caregivers?”. Issue in Brief 2023-22, Chestnut Hill, Mass.: Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, October 2023. http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:109873.
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Abstract

The brief's key findings are: Grandparents raising grandchildren are often under financial stress but -- without legal custody -- tend to get little formal support. Importantly, Social Security child benefits are only available to those who are legal dependents of Social Security beneficiaries. In contrast, the IRS does not require legal custody to claim a child as a dependent for tax purposes. The analysis estimates the impact of aligning Social Security's rules with the IRS criteria on grandparent caregivers. The results show that this change would substantially boost the incomes of half of all grandparent caregiver households.

Title
Could Social Security child benefits help grandparent caregivers?
Author
Liu, Siyan
Quinby, Laura D.
Center
Center for Retirement Research
Genre
report
Date Issued
October 2023
Publisher
Center for Retirement Research at Boston College
Series Title
Issue in Brief
Series Number
2023-22
Persistent Link
http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:109873
Use Restrictions
These materials are made available for use in research, teaching and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. The publisher or original authors may retain copyright to the materials.
Subject
Social Security

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