Thousands of surviving spouses in the United States received lower Social Security payments than they were entitled to after errors by the Social Security Administration, according to a federal watchdog report published in March 2026. The findings point to problems in how certain survivor benefits were calculated and raise broader concerns about the agency’s handling of benefit claims.
According to the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General, an estimated 8,618 widows and widowers were underpaid by roughly $50.4 million combined after staff failed to apply a required calculation known as the Widow(er)’s Indexing Computation, or WINDEX. The report also found that thousands more may have lost additional benefits because they were not fully informed about claiming options.
Survivor benefits are designed to provide financial support after the death of a spouse, often replacing a lower monthly payment with a higher one tied to the deceased partner’s earnings history. For many older Americans, these payments cover basic living costs including housing, food and medical expenses.
The Inspector General’s report states that the errors mainly affected surviving spouses whose partners died before the age of 62 and whose claims required manual processing by agency staff. According to the report, nearly 40 per cent of surviving spouses reviewed may have been affected by similar mistakes during the period examined.
Manual Processing Errors Reduced Monthly Survivor Payments
The Inspector General found that Social Security employees failed to correctly apply the WINDEX calculation in a number of manually processed claims. WINDEX changes how a deceased worker’s earnings are indexed when calculating survivor benefits and can result in a higher monthly payment for widows and widowers.
According to the March 2026 audit, staff incorrectly processed 11 sampled cases in which surviving spouses should have received larger benefits. Based on those findings, auditors estimated that more than 8,600 beneficiaries were collectively underpaid by approximately $50.4 million.
One example cited in the report involved a widow whose husband died at age 32 in 1992. When she applied for benefits in 2016, the agency used the wrong eligibility year in its calculations. As a result, she received $1,856 per month instead of the correct amount of $2,170. According to the Inspector General, the error left her underpaid by more than $35,000 over several years.
The report noted that Social Security’s claims systems do not currently generate specific alerts reminding staff to apply WINDEX calculations in these cases. Auditors recommended that the agency introduce new controls and automated alerts to reduce the risk of future mistakes.
Kevin Thompson, chief executive of 9i Capital Group, told Newsweek that the issue reflected longstanding weaknesses in the agency’s processing systems. “Social Security is supposed to step up when a spouse passes, allowing the surviving spouse to move into a higher benefit,” he said.
Thousands May Also Have Lost Benefits through Poor Guidance
The audit identified another issue involving widows and widowers who were not clearly informed about the financial consequences of filing for retirement benefits too early.
According to the Inspector General, 5,367 surviving spouses could have received an additional $113.8 million in benefits if they had delayed filing retirement claims while first collecting survivor benefits. The report estimated average losses of more than $21,000 per affected beneficiary.
In some cases, beneficiaries filed simultaneously for both survivor and retirement benefits without documented evidence that agency employees explained the long-term impact of those decisions. Delaying retirement claims until age 70 can increase monthly payments because of delayed retirement credits.
The Social Security Administration agreed with the Inspector General’s recommendations and said it plans to take corrective action. Auditors urged the agency to identify affected beneficiaries, issue retroactive payments where appropriate and improve staff training and system controls.
The findings come amid broader scrutiny of improper Social Security payments. According to a separate Inspector General report published in 2024, the agency made nearly $71.8 billion in improper payments between fiscal years 2015 and 2022, while $23 billion in overpayments remained uncollected at the end of fiscal year 2023.
