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1 1 (December 18, 2025)

handle is hein.crs/govetaw0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Claiming Age Clarity Act (H.R. 5284): Background for Congress December 18, 2025 The Claiming Age Clarity Act (H.R. 5284) was introduced by Representative Lloyd Smucker on September 10, 2025. S. 1504, an identical bill, was introduced by Senator Bill Cassidy on April 29, 2025. The bills would change certain terms that the Social Security Administration (SSA) uses to describe the ages at which a beneficiary may claim Social Security retirement and certain other benefits. Specifically, the legislation would * replace early eligibility age with minimum monthly benefit age, * replace full retirement age and normal retirement age with standard monthly benefit age, and * remove the term delayed retirement credit and name the age up to which a delayed retirement credit can be applied as maximum monthly benefit age. On December 1, 2025, the House passed H.R. 5284, as amended (H.Rept. 119-330), by voice vote. This Insight provides summary information on the terminology of Social Security retirement ages, including how each age works, the terms commonly used in various settings, and arguments for and against the current terms. Social Security Retirement Ages Social Security is a work-based federal insurance program that provides monthly cash benefits to workers and their eligible family members in the event of a worker's retirement, disability, or death. Social Security'sfull retirement age (FRA) is the age at which workers can first claimfull (i.e., unreduced) Social Security retired-worker benefits. The FRA was age 65 at the inception of Social Security in the 1930s. Congress increased the FRA gradually from 65 to 67 as part of the Social Security Amendments of 1983 (P.L. 98-21). Under the scheduled increases enacted in 1983, the FRA reaches 67 for workers born in 1960 or later. Among other factors, a worker's monthly benefit amount is affected by the age at which he or she claims benefits. Workers can claim Social Security retired-worker benefits as early as age 62, the early eligibility age (EEA). Workers who claim benefits before the FRA are subject to a permanent reduction in their Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN12630 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress