II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1211 

To amend title II of the Social Security Act to credit individuals serving 

as caregivers of dependent relatives with deemed wages for up to five 

years of such service. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 19, 2023 

Mr. MURPHY (for himself, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Ms. SMITH) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend title II of the Social Security Act to credit individuals serving as caregivers of dependent relatives with 

deemed wages for up to five years of such service. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Social Security Care5 giver Credit Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF THE SENATE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that: 


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1 (1) Caregiving is an essential element of family 

2 life and a vital service for children, the ill, the dis3 abled, and the elderly. 

4 (2) The establishment of a caregiver credit 

5 would bolster the economic prospects of unpaid care6 givers and would provide them with vital retirement 

7 security. 

8 (3) The 2022 Annual Report of the Board of 

9 Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors In10 surance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust 

11 Funds concluded that the combined Trust Funds 

12 will be able to pay scheduled benefits in full until 

13 2034. 

14 (b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of the 

15 Senate that the United States Congress must address the 

16 unfair exclusion of professional and hardworking home 

17 care providers who are not eligible to receive Social Secu18 rity or Medicare because they provide paid care to a family 

19 member with a disability under programs operated at the 

20 State and local level for general health and welfare protec21 tion. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEEMED WAGES FOR CAREGIVERS OF DEPENDENT 

2 RELATIVES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Social Security Act 

4 is amended by adding after section 234 (42 U.S.C. 434) 

5 the following new section: 

6 ‘‘DEEMED WAGES FOR CAREGIVERS OF DEPENDENT

7 RELATIVES

8 ‘‘SEC. 235. (a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 

9 section— 

10 ‘‘(1)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), the term 

11 ‘qualifying month’ means, in connection with an in12 dividual, any month during which such individual 

13 was engaged for not less than 80 hours in providing 

14 care to a dependent relative without monetary com15 pensation. 

16 ‘‘(B) The term ‘qualifying month’ does not in17 clude any month ending after the date on which 

18 such individual attains retirement age (as defined in 

19 section 216(l)). 

20 ‘‘(C) For purposes of subparagraph (A), assist21 ance provided to a family caregiver of an eligible vet22 eran under section 1720G of title 38, United States 

23 Code, shall not be considered monetary compensa24 tion for providing care to such eligible veteran. 

25 ‘‘(2) The term ‘dependent relative’ means, in 

26 connection with an individual— 


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1 ‘‘(A) a child, grandchild, niece, or nephew 

2 (of such individual or such individual’s spouse 

3 or domestic partner), or a child to which the in4 dividual or the individual’s spouse or domestic 

5 partner is standing in loco parentis, who is 

6 under the age of 12; or 

7 ‘‘(B) a child, grandchild, niece, or nephew 

8 (of such individual or such individual’s spouse 

9 or domestic partner), a child to which the indi10 vidual or the individual’s spouse or domestic 

11 partner is standing in loco parentis, a parent, 

12 grandparent, sibling, aunt, or uncle (of such in13 dividual or his or her spouse or domestic part14 ner), or such individual’s spouse or domestic 

15 partner, if such child, grandchild, niece, neph16 ew, parent, grandparent, sibling, aunt, uncle, 

17 spouse, or domestic partner is a chronically de18 pendent individual. 

19 ‘‘(3)(A) The term ‘chronically dependent indi20 vidual’ means an individual who— 

21 ‘‘(i) is dependent on a daily basis on verbal 

22 reminding, physical cueing, supervision, or 

23 other assistance provided to the individual by 

24 another person in the performance of at least 

25 two of the activities of daily living (described in 


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1 subparagraph (B)) or instrumental activities of 

2 daily living (described in subparagraph (C)); 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(ii) without the assistance described in 

5 clause (i), could not perform such activities of 

6 daily living or instrumental activities of daily 

7 living. 

8 ‘‘(B) The ‘activities of daily living’ referred to 

9 in subparagraph (A) means basic personal everyday 

10 activities, including— 

11 ‘‘(i) eating; 

12 ‘‘(ii) bathing; 

13 ‘‘(iii) dressing; 

14 ‘‘(iv) toileting; and 

15 ‘‘(v) transferring in and out of a bed or in 

16 and out of a chair. 

17 ‘‘(C) The ‘instrumental activities of daily living’ 

18 referred to in subparagraph (A) means activities re19 lated to living independently in the community, in20 cluding— 

21 ‘‘(i) meal planning and preparation; 

22 ‘‘(ii) managing finances; 

23 ‘‘(iii) shopping for food, clothing, or other 

24 essential items; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) performing essential household 

2 chores; 

3 ‘‘(v) communicating by phone or other 

4 form of media; and 

5 ‘‘(vi) traveling around and participating in 

6 the community. 

7 ‘‘(b) DEEMED WAGES OF CAREGIVER.—(1)(A) For 

8 purposes of determining entitlement to and the amount 

9 of any monthly benefit for any month after December 

10 2023, or entitlement to and the amount of any lump-sum 

11 death payment in the case of a death after such month, 

12 payable under this title on the basis of the wages and self13 employment income of any individual, and for purposes 

14 of section 216(i)(3), such individual shall be deemed to 

15 have been paid during each qualifying month (in addition 

16 to wages or self-employment income actually paid to or 

17 derived by such individual during such month) at an 

18 amount per month equal to— 

19 ‘‘(i) in the case of a qualifying month during 

20 which no wages or self-employment income were ac21 tually paid to or derived by such individual, 50 per22 cent of the national average wage index (as defined 

23 in section 209(k)(1)) for the second calendar year 

24 preceding the calendar year in which such month oc25 curs; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) in the case of any other qualifying month, 

2 the excess of the amount determined under clause (i) 

over 1 3 ⁄2 of the wages or self-employment income ac4 tually paid to or derived by such individual during 

5 such month. 

6 ‘‘(B) In any case in which there are more than 60 

7 qualifying months for an individual, only the last 60 of 

8 such months shall be taken into account for purposes of 

9 this section. 

10 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not be applicable in the case 

11 of any monthly benefit or lump-sum death payment if a 

12 larger such benefit or payment, as the case may be, would 

13 be payable without its application. 

14 ‘‘(c) RULES AND REGULATIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) Not later than 1 year after the date of the 

16 enactment of this section, the Commissioner of So17 cial Security shall promulgate such regulations as 

18 are necessary to carry out this section and to pre19 vent fraud and abuse with respect to the benefits 

20 under this section, including regulations establishing 

21 procedures for the application and certification re22 quirements described in paragraph (2). 

23 ‘‘(2) A qualifying month shall not be taken into 

24 account under this section with respect to an indi25 vidual unless— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the individual submits to the Com2 missioner of Social Security an application for 

3 benefits under this section that includes— 

4 ‘‘(i) the name and identifying infor5 mation of the dependent relative with re6 spect to whom the individual was engaged 

7 in providing care during such month; 

8 ‘‘(ii) if the dependent relative is not a 

9 child under the age of 12, documentation 

10 from the physician of the dependent rel11 ative explaining why the dependent relative 

12 is a chronically dependent individual; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) such other information as the 

14 Commissioner may require to verify the 

15 status of the dependent relative; and 

16 ‘‘(B) for every qualifying month or period 

17 of up to 12 consecutive qualifying months that 

18 occurs after the first period of 12 consecutive 

19 qualifying months, the individual certifies, in 

20 such form and manner as the Commissioner 

21 shall require, that the information provided in 

22 the individual’s application for benefits under 

23 this section has not changed.’’. 

24 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 209(k)(1) 

25 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 409(k)(1)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ before ‘‘230(b)(2)’’ the 

2 first time it appears; and 

3 (2) by inserting ‘‘and 235(b)(1)(A)(i),’’ after 

4 ‘‘1977),’’. 

Æ 


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