Will there be a Social Security increase in January?

Yes.

Social Security and Supplemental Security Income recipients will receive a 3.6 percent cost-of-living adjustment — the first since 2009 — beginning in January.

Whether the federal government pays a COLA depends on the state of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, which is a measure of inflation.

If the average third-quarter CPI-W figure from the last year a COLA was fixed is lower than that of the current year, then a COLA is determined. If it’s higher, no adjustment is made.

In this case, the figure for the last COLA-fixing year, 2008, is lower than that of this year — 215.495 compared with 223.233.

ONE CPI OR THE OTHER

As The Associated Press and others have reported, the size and frequency of future COLAs may depend on a new inflation gauge called the chained CPI.

The index, calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics since 2002, is meant to account for “substitution” — consumers’ tendency to buy cheaper brands or less of a product as prices rise.

The chained CPI generally calculates lower inflation rates than do other measurements and so would lead to lower COLAs. It would reportedly save $200 billion in the first 10 years if it’s adopted by the federal government.

“Under the chained CPI, yearly benefits for a typical 65-year-old would be about $136 less, according to an analysis of Social Security data,” reads an AP story published on the front of Tuesday’s edition of the American Press.

“At age 75, annual benefits under the new index would be $560 less. At 85, the cut would be $984 a year, and at 95, the annual income loss would amount to $1,392.”

• Online: www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/colasummary.html; www.bls.gov/cpi.

SEAT BELT LAW HAS WEIGHT LIMIT

Are the passengers in a 15-passenger van required to wear seat belts? Who is responsible if they are not worn? Does the age of passengers make a difference?

The state seat belt law applies to all those riding in passenger vehicles that weigh 10,000 pounds or less.

• Online: www.lahighwaysafety.org.

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The Informer answers questions from readers each Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. It is researched and written by Andrew Perzo, an American Press staff writer. To ask a question, call 494-4098, press 5 and leave voice mail, or email informer@americanpress.com.

(www.mgnonline.com)