Two people born in 1960 can start Social Security at 62 and take different hits: 30% off the worker’s check and 35% off the spouse’s. SSA’s age-reduction table shows the spouse’s side of that gap. A spousal benefit that would be $500 at full retirement age becomes $325 at 62 for anyone born in 1960 or later, while a worker’s $1,000 becomes $700.

The $500 is SSA’s illustration, not an average, and the agency labels the results approximate. The pattern is what carries over to a real couple, because the spouse’s cut is steeper than the worker’s at every birth year in the table.

Where the extra five points come from

A spousal benefit tops out at half of the worker’s full-retirement-age amount. SSA’s January 2026 retirement booklet says a spouse can get “up to the maximum of 50% at full retirement age,” and that where full retirement age is 67 a spouse gets 32.5% of the worker’s unreduced benefit at 62. The same booklet says a worker’s own benefit at 62 would be “about 30% lower” than at 67.

The two cuts stack. The table’s footnote explains that “the percentage reduction for the spouse should be applied after the automatic 50% reduction.” For a worker entitled to $1,000, the spouse’s half is $500, and starting 60 months early leaves $325, which is 35% below $500 and 32.5% of the $1,000.

The people affected are spouses whose own record is small or empty and who rely on the spousal benefit, and the decision in front of them is whether the larger check later is worth the wait in lost months now.

A spouse who starts at 62 gets $325 where waiting would pay $500 in SSA’s example, and the right choice turns on the couple’s own figures. The Social Security Claiming & Family Benefits Kit has spousal and survivor sequencing worksheets and a claiming calculator (Excel) for claiming age, break-even and survivor benefits.

Weigh a spousal start at 62 against 67 with the Claiming Kit worksheets →

How the cut grows with each birth year

Full retirement age has been rising by two months a year, and the spouse’s reduction rises with it. In SSA’s table, using the same $500 spousal benefit:

• Born 1943 to 1954 (full retirement age 66): $350 at 62, a 30.00% reduction.
• Born 1957 (66 and 6 months): $337, a 32.50% reduction.
• Born 1958 (66 and 8 months): $333, a 33.33% reduction.
• Born 1959 (66 and 10 months): $329, a 34.17% reduction.
• Born 1960 or later (67): $325, a 35.00% reduction, over 60 months.

A spouse born in 1960 or after, then, faces the steepest cut the schedule contains. Anyone choosing between 62 and a later start in that group is choosing between $325 and $500 on SSA’s example, a $175 monthly difference.

Rules that decide whether a spousal check exists at all

The reduction table assumes a spousal benefit is available, and that depends on the worker. The January 2026 booklet says “your current spouse can’t get spouse’s benefits until you file for retirement benefits,” so a spouse’s start can never come before the worker’s.

A spouse who also has a work record faces a second rule. SSA calls it deemed filing: an applicant must apply for both benefits, and the result is “a combination of benefits that equal the higher spouse’s benefit.” SSA’s family benefits page says a family member could get up to half of the benefit the worker would get at full retirement age, which is the 50% ceiling the table starts from.

Running the spousal numbers for one couple

The free starting point is SSA’s age-reduction table, which lets a couple match a birth year to a percentage. The agency’s retirement planner pages cover the same ground for the worker’s side.

A few figures make the comparison real: the worker’s benefit at full retirement age, the spouse’s own benefit if there is one, and both birth dates. With those, the spousal check at 62 and at 67 can be set side by side, along with the months it takes the larger check to catch up with the smaller one that started earlier.

The watch-out is the filing order. A spouse cannot start before the worker does, so the worker’s claiming age sets the earliest possible date for the spousal check, and the reduction percentage counts months from the spouse’s own full retirement age.

The $175 monthly gap in SSA’s spousal example

The cost of guessing is a spouse’s check locked at the 62 level when the couple’s own numbers might have favored waiting, or the reverse. The Social Security Claiming & Family Benefits Kit puts the choice on paper with a claiming calculator (Excel) for claiming age, break-even and survivor benefits and spousal and survivor sequencing worksheets, in a 37-page kit with a large-print quick start.

Find the break-even age for a spouse’s early start with the Claiming Kit calculator →

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.