Does taking Washington ESD unemployment affect social security benefits?

No, unemployment benefits don't affect your social security earnings record at all. UI payments aren't considered wages for SS purposes. Your future SS benefits are calculated based on your highest 35 years of actual work earnings, not unemployment compensation.

wait i thought if you collect any government benefits it affects social security?? my neighbor told me this when i was filing my weekly claims

I'm in a similar situation and had trouble getting through to Washington ESD to ask this exact question. Spent hours on hold just to get disconnected. Finally found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that actually got me connected to a real person at Washington ESD within minutes. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ showing how it works. The agent confirmed what others are saying - UI doesn't affect SS at all.

THANK GOD someone asked this question!!! I've been stressing about this for weeks. Filed my initial claim but haven't submitted any weekly claims yet because I was so worried about messing up my SS.

Just to clarify the technical side - unemployment benefits are taxable income on your federal return, but they don't count as 'earned income' for Social Security purposes. Only wages from actual employment count toward your SS earnings record and future benefit calculations.

Follow up question - what about if I start collecting early SS at 62 while on unemployment? Does that create any issues?

My dad dealt with this same worry when he got laid off at 59. Turns out unemployment actually helped him bridge the gap until he found another job without touching his retirement savings. No impact on his SS when he finally retired at 67.

does anyone know if washington esd reports your ui payments to social security administration? just want to make sure there's really no connection

Another thing to mention - I used that Claimyr service again last week to ask Washington ESD about job search requirements while collecting UI. Much easier than trying to navigate their phone system myself.

I worked in HR for 25 years and can confirm - unemployment insurance and Social Security are completely separate systems. UI is state-administered, SS is federal. No crossover between them for benefit calculations.

just wanted to add that i collected ui for 6 months in 2023 and when i got my social security statement this year, none of those months showed any earnings. confirms what everyone is saying about them being separate

The only time UI might indirectly affect SS is if collecting unemployment discourages you from working additional years that could boost your highest 35 years of earnings. But that's more about personal career decisions than the programs interfering with each other.

Wait, so if I'm already getting social security disability, can I still collect unemployment from Washington ESD?

This thread is so helpful! I was putting off filing for unemployment because my sister told me it would 'mess up my social security'. Glad to know that's not true.

I had to laugh reading this because my mom asked me the exact same question last month. There's so much confusion about how these programs work together (or don't work together in this case).

One more vote for the 'they're completely separate' camp. I collected UI twice in my career and it never showed up on my SS statements or affected my retirement benefits calculation.

Just to be super clear for anyone reading this later - unemployment benefits do NOT reduce your future Social Security payments, do NOT affect your earnings record, and do NOT count against any SS eligibility requirements. They're funded and administered completely separately.

Thanks everyone for all the helpful responses. I'm going to file my initial claim with Washington ESD this week. Really appreciate having this cleared up!

This has been such an informative discussion. I'm bookmarking this thread in case any of my coworkers have the same question after our plant closure next month.