Rep. Haley Stevens introduced the Blue Collar Social Security Fairness Act on Thursday, proposing to let some workers in construction, nursing, manufacturing and other physically demanding jobs claim full Social Security benefits at age 60. Under current law, Americans born after 1960 generally have to wait until age 67 for full benefits, though they can start collecting at 62 with a cut that is 30% at the earliest claiming age.
Stevens framed the bill as a recognition that blue-collar jobs can wear people down before the current retirement age. “Michiganders who work with their hands shouldn't be forced to wait until their bodies give out to retire,” she said in a statement on Thursday in Washington, D.C. For workers who spend decades in demanding jobs, the proposal would mean full benefits seven years earlier than they can get them now.
The bill would use a point system to sort out who qualifies. Workers would get one point for each year worked between ages 35 and 44, and they would need at least 15 points or at least 20 years in certain jobs such as manufacturing or roofing to retire at 60. The Social Security Administration commissioner would compile the qualifying list, and the agency would have to update it every three years. Any job on that list would have to carry substantial physical demands that could reasonably be expected to reduce a worker’s ability to keep doing the work at older ages.
The proposal lands as Social Security’s finances remain under strain. The most recent trustees report projected that a key trust fund would become insolvent by the end of 2032, a milestone that could trigger a cut of more than 20% in recipients’ benefits. The average retired worker was already receiving $2,071 a month as of January, which helps explain why any change to retirement age draws immediate attention from workers and policymakers alike.
That is the friction in Stevens’ plan: it would open the door to earlier full benefits for some workers even as the program faces a shrinking financing cushion. Lawmakers and policy experts have already floated other fixes, including lifting the payroll tax cap or raising the payroll tax, and in July Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Moreno called for lifting that cap. A 2025 Bipartisan Policy Center poll found broad support for that approach, with 65% of Democrats and 62% of Republicans backing it. Stevens is betting that blue-collar workers need relief now, but the harder question is how much room Social Security has left to absorb it.
