Will my kids' Social Security benefits increase if my wife stops receiving hers and returns to work?

If ur wife stops getting her benefit the amount doesnt go to the kids. Each person gets their own amount up to the family max. My brother went thru this exact thing last yr.

Your family situation is subject to what's called the Family Maximum Benefit (FMB). This is the maximum amount that can be paid on one worker's earnings record. When your wife stops receiving her benefit, that money typically does not get redistributed to your children. Each qualifying individual receives their own calculation based on your primary insurance amount, up to the family maximum. The family maximum is usually between 150-180% of your primary retirement benefit. Since your retirement is $2,170, and your family members are each getting $756 (totaling $2,268 for the three of them), you're likely already at or near your family maximum. One important consideration: if your wife returns to work before her full retirement age while receiving spousal benefits, she may be subject to the earnings test which could reduce or eliminate her benefit anyway depending on how much she earns.

DONT LISTEN TO PEOPLE WHO DONT KNOW THE REAL ANSWER!! The family maximum limit is what matters here. Your total family benefits are capped at that amount. My husband and 3 kids were in this EXACT situation and when I called SSA they said the kids benefit would NOT change when I went back to work!!!

Speaking from experience, the family maximum benefit is definitely the key factor here. When my wife decided to return to work, our children's benefits did not increase. The SSA representative explained that each beneficiary's amount is calculated separately and fixed (except for COLA increases). But there's an important consideration: If your wife returns to work, she might be able to build up additional Social Security credits on her own record. This could potentially increase her own retirement benefit later, which might be higher than what she would receive as a spouse on your record. When I was trying to get clear answers about this from Social Security, I spent DAYS trying to reach someone. I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to a real SSA agent within 20 minutes. They have a demo video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. Saved me hours of frustration and I got the exact information I needed.

My situation was kinda different but might help. I was receiving SSDI with 2 minor children also receiving benefits. My wife was getting spousal benefits. When she went back to work, her benefit stopped but our family maximum stayed the same and our kids didn't get any increase. But in our case it was still worth it for her to work because her salary was much higher than what she got from SS.

I'm a bit confused about something here... isn't 59 too young to collect spousal benefits unless you're caring for a child under 16? So wouldn't your wife lose her benefit anyway when your youngest turns 16 regardless of whether she works or not?

You should really consider the whole financial picture. In my case, when my wife went back to work, we lost her SS benefit BUT: 1. She got health insurance through her employer which saved us $580/month 2. She started contributing to a 401k again 3. Her take-home pay was way more than the SS benefit Just some things to think about beyond just the SS payment itself.