SSCOLA

SSCOLA returns the Social Security Cost-Of-Living Adjustment for following year. The COLA is based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), as determined by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The COLA is calculated by comparing consumer prices in July, August and September with prices in the same three months from the previous year. This is used by the Social Security Administration to determine cost‑of‑living adjustments affecting benefits paid in the next year.

Where:

· 𝐶𝑃𝐼x is the “3^rd quarter CPI” (sum of the CPI-W for the months of July, August, and September) in the year x. (September CPI is usually published around October 13.)

· 𝐶𝑃𝐼𝑦 highest “3^rd quarter CPI” recorded in the year y, where y < x (typically y = x – 1; exceptions occurred in years 2010, 2011, and 2016).

Example: if the DeterminationYear is 2021, SSCOLA is calculated using the 3^rd quarter CPI-W in 2021 divided by the 3rd quarter CPI-W in 2020, and is used to determine the Social Security amounts for year 2022.

Note:

· Prior to 1975, Social Security benefit increases were set by legislation.

· The first COLA, for June 1975, was based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) from the second quarter of 1974 to the first quarter of 1975.

· The 1976-83 COLAs were based on increases in the CPI-W from the first quarter of the prior year to the corresponding quarter of the current year in which the COLA became effective.

· After 1983, COLAs have been based on increases in the CPI-W from the third quarter of the prior year to the corresponding quarter of the current year in which the COLA became effective.

More information can be found at the Social Security web site and this report from the Congressional Research Service. A history of Social Security COLAs is available here.

Syntax

SSCOLA (DeterminationYear)

Parameter Name	Description
DeterminationYear	Year: a 4 digit number.