# The New Parents Act of 2021: What It Actually Does

This bill creates a new benefit through Social Security that lets parents take money out of their future retirement benefits to help them stay home with a newborn or newly adopted child. Think of it as a loan from your future self—you get cash now to spend time with your baby, but you'll have to pay it back later when you retire.

Here's how it works in practice: If you've worked long enough to qualify (generally at least 8 quarters of Social Security credits, with 4 of them in the year before you take the benefit), you can apply for up to three months of payments. The amount you receive each month is based on what your Social Security retirement check would be if you turned 62 right then. So if your future retirement benefit would be $2,000 a month, and you choose to take the benefit for three months, you'd get roughly $2,000 per month for those three months. You get to pick which months during the year after your child is born to receive these payments, giving you flexibility to time it with your work situation.

The catch is that you must repay every penny. When you eventually claim your regular Social Security retirement benefits, the government will reduce your monthly checks for up to five years to recover what you borrowed. Alternatively, you can choose to delay your retirement age instead—essentially working a few extra months to pay back the benefit. The bill includes protections against fraud and requires clear warnings that you're borrowing against your future retirement income. The benefit only applies if Social Security's trust fund is in reasonably good financial health, and it doesn't affect your rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act—this is purely a financial benefit, not a guarantee of job protection.

New Parents Act of 2021

Wagner, Ann

New Parents Act of 2021 This bill allows parents to use a portion of their Social Security benefits for up to three months of paid parental leave after the birth or adoption of a child. To receive the parental leave benefit, parents must choose to either increase their retirement age or temporarily receive a reduction in Social Security benefits upon retirement, as specified.