Women affected by increase in pension age angry over not getting payment

Campaigners have reacted with fury at the Government’s “unfair” rejection of compensation for women affected by changes to the state pension age.

They say 3.6 million women born in the 1950s were not properly informed about the increase in the state pension age to bring them on par with men.

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall apologized for the 28-month delay in sending the letter, but has ruled out any financial payment.

Nine months earlier, a parliamentary ombudsman had recommended compensation of between £1,000 and £2,950 for each person affected.

The Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign described the government’s decision as an “insult”.

“The government has today made an unprecedented political choice to ignore the clear recommendations of an independent watchdog,” said Angela Madden, chair of the campaign group.

“This is a bizarre and completely inappropriate move that will leave everyone asking what the point of an ombudsman is if ministers can ignore his own decisions.”

The Waspi campaign had called for a payment of at least £10,000 each.

But Kendall said there was evidence there was “considerable awareness” of the change to the pension age and that sending letters earlier would make no difference to their ability to make retirement choices.

He also said there was no evidence of “direct financial loss” from the government’s decision.

She said, “Given that the majority of women were aware that the state pension age was rising, the government does not believe that paying the same rate to all women at a cost of up to £10.5 billion is fair or fair to taxpayers.” Will be in proportion to.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he understood the concerns of the Waspi women, but that he would have to consider whether it was right to “place further burden on the taxpayer”.

The age at which people receive the state pension is increasing as people live longer, and is currently 66 for men and women.

But for decades, men received the state pension at the age of 65 and women at the age of 60.

Under the 1995 Pensions Act a timetable was drawn up to equalize the age at which men and women could receive their state pension. The plan was to raise the eligibility age for women to 65 and phase that change in from 2010 to 2020.

But the 2010 coalition government decided to accelerate it. The new eligibility age of 65 for women was brought to 2018 under the 2011 Pension Act.

The increase has been controversial. Campaigners claim that women born in the 1950s have been treated unfairly because of the rapid changes and the way they get their message across to those affected.

Many thousands of people said they did not realize they would have to wait longer to receive their state pension, and have suffered financial and emotional distress as a result.

While the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) could recommend compensation, it could not enforce it.

The Work and Pensions Secretary said lessons would be learned from what happened. The Government will develop an action plan to correct the problems identified in the Ombudsman’s report, and will provide clear notice of any future changes to the state pension age.

He said future pension communications would also use the “most modern methods” to contact those affected.

Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesman Steve Darling said: “Today is a day of shame for the government (which) has ignored the recommendations of the independent ombudsman and turned its back on the millions of pension-aged women who have suffered through no fault of their own. “An injustice was done.” And that’s clearly offensive.”

As for the Conservatives, who did not respond to the ombudsman’s report while in power, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Helen Whateley said ministers should “take their own” decision not to pay.

A petition to Parliament to introduce a compensation system had reached 135,000 signatures before Tuesday’s announcement.