When Social Security was first launched, most families only had one bread-earner, and only the working spouse qualified for retirement benefits. This created financial difficulties for the spouse who didn't work (and hence didn't qualify for Social Security) if the working spouse passed away first. Thankfully the Social Security Administration recognized this hardship and amended the law to permit wives to collect benefits based on their husband's earnings.

The family dynamic has changed very much since Social Security was introduced back in 1935, but there are still many families where one spouse does not work, and hence does not qualify for retirement benefits based on their own earnings.

There are several requirements in order to qualify for Social Security retirement benefits, such as:

- Age: In order to qualify for Social Security retirement benefits, you need to be at least age 62. Other benefits, such as survivor benefits or disability benefits may be collected at an earlier age, but the Social Security eligibility criteria require you to be age 62 before you can try for retirement benefits.

- Work Credits: You must work in a Social Security included job (i.e., where you contribute to Social Security by means of payroll tax deductions) for at least 40 credits to be eligible for retirement benefits. You can earn up to four credits per year; so basically, you must work for 10 years to meet the criteria for Social Security.

- Citizenship or Residency Status: Many people will be surprised to realize that you do not have to be a U.S. citizen to be eligible for Social Security retirement benefits. Employees who pay into the Social Security system may qualify for benefits even if they are not U.S. nationals, however they must live in the U.S. to actually receive benefits.

And so... do spouses qualify for Social Security? Given the Social Security eligibility rules listed above, most full-time homemakers will not qualify for retirement benefits themselves, unless they worked for 10 years (40 credits) before they became a homemaker.

Alternatively, homemakers may qualify for benefits based on their spouse's earnings. Social Security spousal benefits help husbands and wives to collect retirement benefits based on their spouse's income if they result in a higher benefit than their own. To be more precise, a spouse who has not worked or who has considerably lower earnings than their husband or wife can receive up to as much as half of their spouse's entire retirement benefit.

In addition to spousal benefits, homemakers may also qualify for Social Security survivor benefits. Widows and widowers can start getting Social Security benefits based on their deceased spouse's earnings beginning at age 60 (age 50 if they are handicapped). Children of deceased workers who are below age 18 (19 if they are still in high school) can also qualify for survivor benefits. This is very helpful for families with small kids when the main bread earner passes away at an early age.

While full-time homemakers who have never worked or who were working for less than 10 years generally won't qualify for Social Security retirement benefits on their own, essentially, they may be eligible for benefits based on their husband's earnings. Note: while this report has assumed that the homemaker is woman, Social Security is gender neutral, so men who choose to stay home to bring up the kids can also qualify for spousal and survivor benefits.

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