In the context of Social Security survivor benefits, the "blackout period" refers to the time when:
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Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why A is correct
The blackout period is a gap in Social Security survivor protection. A surviving spouse with dependent children may receive survivor benefits while caring for those children, but when the children age out of eligibility, the survivor benefits stop — the blackout period — and generally do not resume until the survivor reaches the age at which survivor retirement benefits begin. Life insurance planners use this concept to show why widows and widowers need personal coverage to bridge the income gap the blackout period creates. The blackout is a benefit-gap concept, not a suspension for employment.
Why the other options are wrong
- B) The blackout period applies to survivor benefits for spouses, not to disability benefits for all workers. Disability benefits have their own eligibility rules under Social Security.
- C) The blackout is not about annual reapplication. It is a defined gap between the end of dependent-care survivor benefits and the start of age-based survivor benefits.
- D) Working does not create a blackout period. Survivors may work, and earnings limits apply separately to reduce benefit amounts, but that is not the blackout concept.
Memory hook
Blackout = the survivor-benefit dead zone between the kids' benefits ending and age-based benefits resuming.