I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3377 
To amend title II of the Social Security Act to credit prospectively individuals 
serving as caregivers of dependent relatives with deemed wages for up 
to five years of such service. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 29, 2015 
Mrs. LOWEY (for herself, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 
GRIJALVA, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Ms. EDWARDS, Mr. 
MCDERMOTT, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. 
DELAURO, Mr. POCAN, Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, 
Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. NAD-
LER, Ms. KUSTER, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. PLASKETT, 
Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. LEE, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. CLARKE of New York, 
Ms. MOORE, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. 
SINEMA, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. MENG, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. SPEIER, 
Mr. DELANEY, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. HONDA, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. 
ENGEL, Ms. TITUS, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. MCGOVERN, and 
Mr. TAKANO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To amend title II of the Social Security Act to credit pro-
spectively individuals serving as caregivers of dependent 
relatives with deemed wages for up to five years of 
such service. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Social Security Care-
giver Credit Act of 2015’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that: 
(1) Caregiving is an essential element of family 
life and a vital service for children, the ill, the dis-
abled, and the elderly. 
(2) The establishment of a caregiver credit 
would bolster the economic prospects of unpaid care-
givers and would provide them with vital retirement 
security. 
(3) The 2015 Annual Report of the Board of 
Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors In-
surance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust 
Funds concluded that the combined Trust Funds 
will be able to pay scheduled benefits in full until 
2034. 
(4) While there is no immediate crisis, policy 
options should be considered to extend OASDI sol-
vency, including by eradicating the gender wage gap, 
increasing overall employment, or increasing the 
minimum wage. 
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SEC. 3. DEEMED WAGES FOR CAREGIVERS OF DEPENDENT 
RELATIVES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Social Security Act 
is amended by adding after section 234 (42 U.S.C. 434) 
the following new section: 
‘‘DEEMED WAGES FOR CAREGIVERS OF DEPENDENT 
RELATIVES 
‘‘SEC. 235. (a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 
section— 
‘‘(1) The term ‘qualifying month’ means, in 
connection with an individual, a month during which 
such individual was engaged for not less than 80 
hours in providing care to a dependent relative with-
out monetary compensation. Such term does not in-
clude any month ending after the date on which 
such individual attains retirement age (as defined in 
section 216(l)). 
‘‘(2) The term ‘dependent relative’ means, in 
connection with an individual— 
‘‘(A) a child, grandchild, niece, or nephew 
(of such individual or such individual’s spouse 
or domestic partner), or a child to which the in-
dividual or the individual’s spouse or domestic 
partner is standing in loco parentis, who is 
under the age of 12, or 
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‘‘(B) a child, grandchild, niece, or nephew 
(of such individual or such individual’s spouse 
or domestic partner), a child to which the indi-
vidual or the individual’s spouse or domestic 
partner is standing in loco parentis, a parent, 
aunt, or uncle (of such individual or his or her 
spouse or domestic partner), or such individ-
ual’s spouse or domestic partner, if such child, 
grandchild, niece, nephew, parent, aunt, uncle, 
spouse, or domestic partner is a chronically de-
pendent individual. 
‘‘(3)(A) The term ‘chronically dependent indi-
vidual’ means an individual who— 
‘‘(i) is dependent on a daily basis on verbal 
reminding, physical cueing, supervision, or 
other assistance provided to the individual by 
another person in the performance of at least 
two of the activities of daily living (described in 
subparagraph (B)), and 
‘‘(ii) without the assistance described in 
clause (i), could not perform such activities of 
daily living. 
‘‘(B) The ‘activities of daily living’ referred to 
in subparagraph (A) are the following: 
‘‘(i) Eating. 
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‘‘(ii) Bathing. 
‘‘(iii) Dressing. 
‘‘(iv) Toileting. 
‘‘(v) Transferring in and out of a bed or 
in and out of a chair. 
‘‘(b) DEEMED WAGES OF CAREGIVER.—(1)(A) For 
purposes of determining entitlement to and the amount 
of any monthly benefit for any month after December 
2015, or entitlement to and the amount of any lump-sum 
death payment in the case of a death after such month, 
payable under this title on the basis of the wages and self- 
employment income of any individual, and for purposes 
of section 216(i)(3), such individual shall be deemed to 
have been paid during each qualifying month (in addition 
to wages or self-employment income actually paid to or 
derived by such individual during such month) at an 
amount per month equal to— 
‘‘(i) in the case of a qualifying month during 
which no wages or self-employment income were ac-
tually paid to or derived by such individual, 50 per-
cent of the national average wage index (as defined 
in section 209(k)(1)) for the second calendar year 
preceding the calendar year in which such month oc-
curs; and 
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‘‘(ii) in the case of any other qualifying month, 
the excess of the amount determined under clause (i) 
over 1⁄2 of the wages or self-employment income ac-
tually paid to or derived by such individual during 
such month. 
‘‘(B) In any case in which there are more than 60 
qualifying months for an individual, only the last 60 of 
such months shall be taken into account for purposes of 
this section. 
‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not be applicable in the case 
of any monthly benefit or lump-sum death payment if a 
larger such benefit or payment, as the case may be, would 
be payable without its application. 
‘‘(c) IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—A qualifying 
month shall not be taken into account under this section 
with respect to an individual unless such individual pro-
vides the Commissioner of Social Security with the name 
and identifying information of the dependent relative with 
respect to whom the individual was engaged in providing 
care during such month, and other information as the 
Commissioner may require to verify the status of the de-
pendent relative, on whatever application may be required 
to obtain benefits under this section.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 209(k)(1) 
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 409(k)(1)) is amended— 
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