A campaigning group of women fighting for state pension compensation have drawn up 10 demands in their battle with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).
The WASPI women - Women Against State Pension Inequality - say they were not properly informed by the Government that their state pension age would increase from 60 to 65 to equalise with men, and they were left with insufficient time to prepare for years without the pension they were expecting.
Nearly four million women are estimated to have missed out on State Pension payments due to a change in retirement age. Between April 2010 and November 2018, it rose from 60 to 65 for women, and in October 2020 it increased to 66 for both men and women.
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In July 2021, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) ruled that the DWP failed to communicate the age changes to those women with enough urgency, finding it guilty of maladministration, and is currently investigating the harm caused.
A survey commissioned by the WASPI campaign, suggests that close to 30 per cent of affected women had already left work by the time they found out their state pension age had moved and a similar proportion were unable to find another job.
Christine Smith, coordinator of the Newcastle Wear and Tees WASPI Group, says that 3.8m women born between April 6 1950 to April 5 1960 have been hit particularly hard, and they are angry that they have been treated unfairly because of the day they were born.
"Significant changes to the age we receive our state pension have been imposed upon us with a lack of appropriate notification, with little or no notice and much faster than we were promised," said Christine, 67. "Some of us have been hit by more than one increase. As a result, hundreds of thousands of us are suffering financial hardship, with not enough time to re-plan for our retirement."
The WASPI survey found that by this time many found out about the change, they had made life-changing decisions, reducing their hours, turning down promotions, or taking early retirement because they believed their state pension would come in at 60. The WASPI campaign argues that this lack of notice robbed millions of women of the ability to adequately plan for their retirement.
As a result, around a quarter of the women surveyed said they have struggled to buy food or essentials in the last six months, with 45 per cent of women reporting they have been unable to pay household bills.
The women are calling for compensation from the Government, but according to Christine, more than three quarters of the women in the North East groups would use the money to pay off debts they have accrued bridging the gap between when they expected their pension and when they started to get it.
"Women in our group made the decision to retire at 60 when they thought their state pension would kick in because they had caring responsibilities or many other reasons, and had no idea that they would have to wait until they were 65," said Christine. "We were unaware of the state pension changes and either did not receive any communication or received it far too late, when the decision to retire had already been made.
"To be clear, we are not asking for the state pension age to revert back to 60 for women. Our campaign is about the lack of communication which has blighted millions of women's lives. Had we known, many of us would have made different choices, but as it is, there are many women in the North East suffering real hardship through no fault of their own. They have used up all their savings bridging the gap and now they are faced with trying to find zero hours contract jobs in their 60s. Some women have been hit twice. The pension age was put up to 65 in 1995 and again to 66 in 2021. Six years is a long time to manage when you are not getting money you were expecting."
Christine, who retired as a nurse at Newcastle's RVI when she was nearly 60, said she made the decision to give up work when her elderly mother and parents in law needed more attention that she could give them working 12-hour shifts. "I had made the arrangements to retire and only found out a few months beforehand that I would not get my pension until much later," she said. "I could have changed my mind, but it would have meant putting our parents into care. Women in our group have faced the same scenario and there's also grandchildren to be looked after, as childcare is so expensive now. These women have put family first and made decisions assuming they would have a pension income. It is devastating to some in our group."
Christine, who lives in Kingston Park with her husband Bill, said the 10 point plan to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) is a bid to resolve their fight with the DWP over state pension age changes. The group have urged all of its members and supporters to write to their MP with the list of 10 demands to help put pressure on the ombudsman. The letter can be downloaded from the WASPI website.
The WASPI group conceded that they understand that they have no right to compensation but argue that it would be the "legally correct decision" to make.
The 10 steps outlined by are:
- Complete the investigation with a sense of urgency
- Clearly and correctly identify when maladministration began
- Clearly and correctly identify when maladministration ended
- Reach a sound conclusion on what would have happened if women had been correctly notified of the changes to their state pension age
- Make realistic findings on direct financial losses
- Look at the lost opportunities for women to make different financial decisions
- Properly consider the distress, anger and hurt of those affected
- Take account of varying impacts based on circumstances
- Reach conclusions in a fair manner including consultation with WASPI
- Make compensation recommendations that are fair, fast and straightforward
A DWP spokesperson told The Mirror: “The Government decided over 25 years ago it was going to make the State Pension age the same for men and women. Both the High Court and Court of Appeal have supported the actions of the DWP under successive governments dating back to 1995 and the Supreme Court refused the claimants permission to appeal.”
Christine says the WASPI campaign has the backing of many local council and MPs, including Jarrow MP Kate Osborne.
"Earlier this year I called for the Government to put forward a compensation package for women born in the 1950s who were affected by the changes to their state pension age," she said. "The Minister responded “Well I don’t accept that. I think the WASPI issue has been covered many times by Ministers from the Department of Work and Pensions and elsewhere” - dismissive and arrogant sums up this Government. Despite the Ombudsman ruling that the DWP had failed to communicate with enough urgency and finding the DWP guilty of maladministration in July 2021, these women are still waiting for justice.
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"Around 11,000 of the women affected by state pension changes were from the South Tyneside area, with a total of 65,000 in the North East. The Government should be ashamed that so many women have died whilst waiting for justice. I raised this again in Parliament in March 2023 and I have written to the Ombudsman backing the WASPI women's ten point plan. It is an absolute disgrace that women born in the 1950’s have suffered such discrimination. They have my full support and I will continue to raise this in any way I can."
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