CBS News
Social Security recipients may see smallest cost-of-living adjustment since 2021. Here’s what to know.
Inflation falling to its lowest level in three years is good news, generally speaking. But it also means Social Security recipients are likely in line for the smallest cost-of-living increase to the monthly benefit since 2021.
The 2025 cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, is projected to come in around 2.57%, the Senior Citizens League, an advocacy group for older Americans, said on Wednesday. Down from 2.63% last month, the calculation is based on the rate of inflation, with government figures released earlier in the day showing consumer prices in July rose 2.9%, the smallest advance since March 2021.
Though it’s not yet official, as the Social Security Administration usually sets the next year’s COLA in October, a 2.57% hike would translate into a monthly increase of nearly $49, based on the current average monthly benefit of $1,900.
The new year’s COLA can be expected with most recipients’ January benefit check.
While many working Americans have seen their wages rising at a faster pace than inflation, seniors on fixed incomes are worried about depleting their savings, according to a survey of 2,016 seniors in July. More than three-quarters, or 78%, reported higher monthly budgets for basics such as housing, food and medicines compared with last year, TSCL stated.
The Social Security Administration sets its yearly COLA based on inflation during the third quarter, or from July through September. The agency takes the average inflation rate over that period from what’s known as the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI-W, which tracks spending by working Americans.
If that inflation rate is higher than the same period a year earlier, the COLA is adjusted upward by the difference.
But some advocates and lawmakers oppose the use of the CPI-W, arguing that older Americans spend differently than younger workers. For instance, the Senior Citizens League has noted that the CPI-W assumes workers spend about 7% of their income on health care, yet older Americans can spend up to 16% or more on health costs.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
CBS News
Yellowstone hiker burned when she falls into scalding water near Old Faithful, park officials say
Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. — A New Hampshire woman suffered severe burns on her leg after hiking off-trail in Yellowstone National Park and falling into scalding water in a thermal area near the Old Faithful geyser, park officials said.
The 60-year-old woman from Windsor, New Hampshire, along with her husband and their leashed dog were walking off a designated trail near the Mallard Lake Trailhead on Monday afternoon when she broke through a thin crust over the water and suffered second- and third-degree burns to her lower leg, park officials said. Her husband and the dog weren’t injured.
The woman was flown to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho for treatment.
National Park Service / Jacob W. Frank
Park visitors are reminded to stay on boardwalks and trails in hydrothermal areas and exercise extreme caution. The ground in those areas is fragile and thin and there’s scalding water just below the surface, park officials said.
Pets are allowed in limited, developed areas of Yellowstone park but are prohibited on boardwalks, hiking trails, in the backcountry and in thermal areas.
The incident is under investigation. The woman’s name wasn’t made public.
This is the first known thermal injury in Yellowstone in 2024, park officials said in a statement. The park had recorded 3.5 million visitors through August this year.
Hot springs have injured and killed more people in Yellowstone National Park than any other natural feature, the National Park Service said. At least 22 people have died from hot spring-related injuries in and around the 3,471-square-mile national park since 1890, park officials have said.