Huge update to WASPI women compensation claim as government makes decision
MILLIONS of Waspi women will NOT get any cash compensation despite their long-standing campaign, ministers announced today.
Welfare Secretary Liz Kendall insisted they “suffered no direct financial loss” when the state pension age was increased from 60 to 65.
Around 3.8million women born in the 1950s were affected by changes to the retirement age gradually hiked in 1995, 2007 and 2011.
The Waspi – Women Against State Pension Inequality – campaign says they were unaware of the changes, which meant they were suddenly unable to retire and put out of pocket.
But Ms Kendall today said most DID know about the changes, and that their demands for up to £10.5billion of financial redress was unaffordable and unfair to taxpayers.
She also said that while some DWP letters to the women informing them of the changes were sent out late, this did not have a major impact.
She told the Commons: “These two facts: that most women knew the state pension age was increasing and that letters aren’t as significant as the Ombudsman says, as well as other reasons, have informed our conclusion that there should be no scheme of financial compensation to 1950s-born women, in response to the Ombudsman’s report.”
She added: “The alternative put forward in the report is for a flat-rate compensation scheme, at level four of the Ombudsman’s scale of injustice, this would provide £1,000 to £2,950 per person at a total cost of £3.5 billion and £10.5 billion.
“Given the vast majority of women knew the state pension age was increasing, the Government does not believe paying a flat rate to all women at a cost of up to £10.5billion would be fair or proportionate to taxpayers.”
She added: “I know there are women born in the 1950s who want and deserve a better life, they have worked hard in paid jobs and in bringing up their families.
“Many are struggling financially with the cost of living and fewer savings to fall back on, and they worry about their health and how their children and grandchildren will get on.
“To those women I say, this Government will protect the pensions triple lock, so your state pension will increase by up to £1,900 per year by the end of this Parliament.”
The Lib Dems said the rejection of cash redress marked “a day of shame for the government.”
Their spokesman Steve Darling said: “The new government has turned its back on millions of pension-age women who were wronged through no fault of their own, ignoring the independent Ombudsman’s recommendations, and that is frankly disgraceful.”
Who are the Waspi women and what is their campaign?
WASPI women refers to an estimated 3.8million women born in the 1950s who have been badly hit by a change in state pension age from 60 to 65.
The acronym stands for Women Against State Pension Inequality.
The women represented were born between April 6, 1950, and April 5, 1960.
The WASPI campaign was set up in 2015 in a bid to help those affected by the change in state pension age.
Campaigners say they agree with the equal retirement age between men and women and are not calling for a return to the former retirement age.
But they say they do not accept the unfair way the changes to the state pension age were implemented with “inadequate” or “no notice”.
Many women had made life plans based on when they thought they were going to be able to retire.
When this was then pushed back, it left them in financial hardship as they waited extra years to receive their pension.
Millions of women suddenly faced unemployment, zero-hours contracts and a loss of independence, according to the group.
Some of the worst affected were the 300,000 women born between December 1953 and October 1954, who were made to wait an extra 18 months before they could retire.