Industry News

On May 13, 2025, the Center for Retirement Research (CRR) at Boston College released its issue brief, How Much Have Social Security Claiming Ages Increased? According to the issue brief, working longer (when possible) has certain benefits such as increasing current income; shortening the retirement period; and helping to delay claiming Social Security benefits that would result in a higher monthly benefit.

The CRR analysis examines the extent to which individuals who have worked longer have also delayed claiming their Social Security benefits. The issue brief indicates that the average retirement age has increased by three years since the mid-1990s. 

Other key findings include:

• The two metrics used in the analysis consist of: 1) the amount of all initial claimants who are age 62; and 2) the amount of all workers that are turning age 62 and claim Social Security benefits at age 62.
• Both metrics show a sharp decline in individuals claiming Social Security benefits at age 62 over the past 20 years, which continued during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Therefore, the average claiming age has increased during the past 20 years by approximately two years, which is slightly less than the average retirement age. 

The report concludes that individuals are delaying claiming Social Security even though the two-year increase in the average claiming age from ages 63 to 65 is somewhat less than the three-year increase in the average retirement age. 

The brief is available here.