Social Security Work Credits
Published: 2/26/2024
In order to qualify for Social Security benefits, you need to have earned enough work credits. Work credits are earned by working and paying Social Security taxes. This mechanism forms a kind of "minimum" required work to qualify for benefits.
How Many Work Credits Do I Need?
For retirement benefits, you need 40 work credits to qualify. This requires at least 10 years of work.
For survivor's benefits, for a spouse or child, the number of work credits that you must have earned in order for your family members to qualify depends on your age at the time of your death. The younger you are, the fewer credits are required. However, no one needs more than 40 credits to be eligible for any Social Security benefit.
This site doesn't currently have support for disability benefits, but the number of work credits required for disability benefits depends on your age at the time you become disabled. See ssa.gov for more information.
How Do I Earn Work Credits?
You earn work credits by working and paying Social Security taxes on wages. Each calendar year you work, you may be eligible to earn up to 4 work credits, but never more.
In years before 1987, you could earn one work credit for each calendar quarter where you earned at least $250 in wages. Thus the 4 credits per year. You may also see "quarters of coverage" (QCs) mentioned in some places. This is the same thing as work credits.
After 1987, the quarters requirement was removed and instead you earn one credit a year for each fixed dollar amount of earnings, up to 4 credits per year. The amount of earnings required to earn a credit changes each year. It is adjusted to keep pace with wage growth. For example, in year 2000, you would earn one credit for each $780 of earnings.
You cannot earn partial credits.
Amount of earnings needed per credit
The amount of earnings needed to earn a credit changes each year. See the following table for the amount of earnings needed to earn a credit for each year after 1978:
For example, in 1989 the amount of earnings needed to earn a credit was $500. Therefore someone with $1,700 in earnings in 1989 would earn 3 credits. The extra $200 in earnings above $1,500 would not earn partial credits.
Qualifying for Spousal Benefits
Note that to receive spousal benefits from a spouse's work record, you do not need to have earned work credits yourself. You only need to be married to someone who has earned enough work credits.