What is the purpose of the “Windfall Elimination Provision”?

The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) is designed to adjust Social Security benefits for individuals who receive a pension from work not covered by Social Security, such as certain government and foreign jobs. The rationale behind WEP is that individuals who have earned a pension from non-covered employment might not have contributed sufficiently to the Social Security system to warrant a full benefit. Therefore, WEP reduces the amount of Social Security benefits that these individuals can receive, based on the number of years they have contributed to Social Security. This adjustment aims to ensure fairness in the Social Security system, as those who have spent a significant portion of their careers in non-covered employment would otherwise receive a disproportionately high benefit relative to their work history.

Understanding the context of the other options illuminates why they do not align with the purpose of WEP. The aim of WEP is not to increase benefits for any individual, especially not for low-income individuals, nor does it eliminate benefits altogether for non-covered pensions. Moreover, it does not provide additional benefits to public employees; instead, it is an adjustment mechanism to balance benefits based on contributions to Social Security. This makes the correct answer focused on the reduction of benefits for those in non-covered employment quite fitting.