Will my son's part-time grocery job affect our Social Security dependent benefits?
I'm confused about how teen employment impacts Social Security benefits. My son (15) just got his first job at the local supermarket working 12-15 hours weekly. We receive dependent benefits for him through my wife's Social Security retirement. She's been fully retired since 2023, while I'm still working full-time (not collecting benefits yet). Will his small part-time income affect the dependent benefits we receive for him? I've heard conflicting things about earnings limits applying to dependents versus retirees. Anyone know how this works? I don't want to jeopardize his benefits over what's probably going to be just $8,000-9,000 annually.
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JacksonHarris
Good news - your son's part-time job won't affect his dependent benefits! The earnings test only applies to the person actually receiving retirement benefits (your wife in this case) or to the dependent themselves if they're disabled. For minor children receiving dependent benefits, their own earnings don't count against the earnings limit. So let your son keep that grocery job without worrying about losing benefits.
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Ella Thompson
•That's such a relief! Thanks for clarifying. I was worried we'd have to calculate some complicated reduction formula. So just to confirm - as long as my WIFE doesn't exceed her earnings limit (which isn't an issue since she's fully retired), our son's dependent benefits remain unchanged regardless of what he earns at his part-time job?
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Jeremiah Brown
My daughter worked all through highschool and we never lost a penny of her dependent benefits. Just make sure your keeping good records for his taxes tho!!
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Royal_GM_Mark
•This is WRONG information! Benefits can absolutely be affected! It depends if the son is on SSI or SSDI or regular dependent benefits - they all have different rules! I had to pay back $4,300 because my son worked too much last year and nobody told me about the limits!!! The government doesn't warn you until it's too late!!
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Amelia Cartwright
Just went thru this with my grandson!!! Its confusing because theres different kinds of benefits with different rulse. But for child benefits from a parents retiremnet record, the CHILDS income doesnt matter. Only if your wife earns over the limit (which is like $21,240 for 2025 i think?) would it effect anything. But sounds like she's fully retired so ur all good 👍
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Chris King
•Yes the annual limit is $21,240 for 2025 if under FRA. Each $2 over reduces benefits by $1. But like everyone said, only applies to the person whose record the benefits are based on.
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Rachel Clark
I had a similar situation when my stepdaughter started working at McDonald's last summer. I called Social Security to check, and after waiting 2.5 hours, they told me her earnings wouldn't affect her dependent benefits at all. Honestly, I wish I had known about Claimyr (claimyr.com) back then - my friend used it recently to get through to SSA in under 20 minutes for a benefit question. There's a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. Would have saved me an entire afternoon on hold!
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Ella Thompson
•Thanks for the resource! I actually tried calling SSA yesterday and gave up after being on hold for 45 minutes. I might check that service out if I need to call again with follow-up questions.
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Zachary Hughes
One important thing no one mentioned - make sure your son files his taxes properly. Even though his income won't affect his Social Security benefits, he still needs to file taxes if he earns over $12,950 (2025 standard deduction). Also, if he earns over $400 in self-employment income (like mowing lawns or babysitting), he'll need to file regardless of total income. Just something to keep in mind for next tax season!
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Jeremiah Brown
•good point! my daughters first w2 job was so confusing come tax time
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Chris King
Actually this is a great opportunity to teach your son about FICA taxes! Show him how 6.2% of his earnings go toward Social Security and 1.45% go to Medicare on his paystub. Great learning moment about how the system he's currently benefiting from works and how he's now contributing to it too. My son found that pretty interesting when he got his first job.
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Amelia Cartwright
•Thats actually a realy good idea! Kids never learn this stuff in school these days. My grandson was shocked how much taxes came out of his first paycheck lol
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Royal_GM_Mark
Just be careful your wife doesn't start working again! My husband lost half his benefits because I decided to pick up some part-time work after retiring and didn't know about the earnings limit. The Social Security Administration doesn't explain ANYTHING clearly and then they hit you with an overpayment letter months later! Always double-check everything they tell you.
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Ella Thompson
•That's rough, thanks for the warning. My wife has no plans to return to work, but it's good to know how strictly they enforce the earnings limits for retirees.
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Jeremiah Brown
btw congrats to ur son on the new job! my son also works at a grocery store. they actually have good benefits even for part timers after 6 months.
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Ella Thompson
•Thanks! He's pretty excited about having his own money, and this is a huge relief knowing it won't affect his benefits.
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Mason Davis
This is such valuable information for parents! I went through the same worry when my daughter started her first job at 16. One thing I learned is that it's also worth keeping track of your son's total lifetime earnings for his own future Social Security benefits. Even though he's only 15, those early work years start building his work history and quarters of coverage. The SSA keeps records of all earnings, and having that early work history can be beneficial down the road. Plus, it's never too early to start teaching teens about saving for retirement - even if it's just a small amount from each paycheck!
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Zara Malik
•That's such a great point about building work history early! I hadn't thought about how these teenage earnings would count toward his future Social Security record. It's amazing how every quarter of coverage adds up over time. Do you know if there's a minimum amount he needs to earn per quarter for it to count, or does any amount of reported earnings help build his record?
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