A new bill in Congress, titled the Social Security Caregiver Credit Act of 2026, would change how Social Security benefits are calculated, meaning millions of parents could end up with larger payments when they retire.
After years of seeing a decline in stay-at-home mothers, the United States started seeing the number of women leaving the workforce to raise children rise in 2014. That number has stabilized in recent years, but with the cost of childcare rising, some parents are making the decision to have one parent stay home because they can’t justify spending more than half of their salary on childcare. However, leaving the workforce—even temporarily—means parents who stay home get lower Social Security payments when they retire.
Representative Brad Schneider wants to change that. Last week, the Illinois Democrat introduced a bill that would credit parents who stay home with their kids toward future retirement benefits, even if they’re unpaid. In 2021, there were an estimated 11 million people who stayed home with their kids.
“Caregiving is an essential element of family life and a vital service for children, the ill, the disabled, and the elderly,” the bill says. “The establishment of a caregiver credit would bolster the economic prospects of unpaid caregivers and would provide them with vital retirement security.”
Along with parents, the bill would allow a Social Security credit for people who stay home to care for a dependent relative, including a disabled spouse or elderly parent. Eligible caregivers can get credit for 60 months of staying home, or equal to five years.
Newsweek reached out to Schneider’s office for comment.
Who Would See an Increase in Payments
The bill targets parents who spent years providing unpaid care for children rather than earning wages covered by Social Security. Under current law, Social Security benefits are calculated using a worker’s 35 highest‑earning years. So, years with little or no earnings can substantially lower retirement payments.
The proposal would change that calculation by awarding Social Security credits for time spent raising children, allowing caregiving years to count toward benefit formulas instead of registering as zeros or low‑earning years.
While grandparents can qualify for the credit if they’re caring for grandchildren, they have to be under retirement age. Under the current version of the bill, qualifying months do not count if they end after a person reaches retirement age.
Some countries, including Germany, Canada and Sweden, already provide pension credits for caregiving years.
How Stay‑at‑Home Parents Have Changed
From 1967 to 1999, the percentage of moms who stayed home steadily declined from 49 to 23 as women joined the workforce. After 1999, the United States started seeing a rise, reaching 29 percent by 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
A Pew study from 2021 found that 18 percent of parents didn’t work for pay, a number unchanged from 2016, but the difference between men and women was stark. Twenty-six percent of women stayed home, compared to 7 percent of men.
A more recent study from Motherly found nearly 12 percent of moms stayed home, but the number was significantly higher among younger moms, who are more likely to have young children. Nearly 17 percent of millennials were a stay-at-home parent and 38 percent of Gen Z were stay-at-home moms. While there hasn’t been a huge increase in moms leaving the workforce, the cost of childcare has tempted people to quit their jobs.
In the 2025 State of Motherhood survey, Motherly found that 52 percent of Gen Z and 50 percent of millennials considered leaving the workforce because of childcare costs. Childcare is also the top financial stress for millennial and Gen Z moms.
The bill has two co-sponsors, both Democrats, and it would require Republican support to pass both chambers of Congress. An argument against the bill is likely to be that Social Security is already facing a financial crisis and can’t afford to expand benefits for people.
