Mixed feelings about WASPI victory

[Fauxflowersnoflowers]

Early 40s here, so this doesn't as such directly affect me, but I've been intrigued by the story about the WASPI campaign and done a bit of reading around it and I'm still confused.

The changes apparently were in the public sphere since as early as 1995 and could have been known about. Many women were aware and did take financial steps to address the changes. The current case seems to centre around whether they should have been personally informed, not was the change fair.

WASPI just said on Women's Hour that they don't object to the equalisation of the pension age, but then callers were objecting to having to work longer and not getting a good retirement, so the two arguments seem to contradiction each other

Also, it seems misunderstood that a compensation payment would be a full reinbursement of the "lost" pension, from my reading it's more likely to be a fixed amount to recognise the fact they should have received a letter. Although again, it appears many did, just not everyone, so who gets the compensation? All of them or just some?

I suppose the other question is how do we pay this? Public services are already stretched badly, childcare costs are crippling and there is a bit of a worry for me that the funds to pay this are going to come out of other areas that will just make the loves of younger women harder and push their pension ages even further back, maybe into their 70s.

Feel really conflicted about it. On one hand kudos to the women for getting this far, but in the other it feels like a really clear example of the importance of properly understanding your own finances and educating yourself about your pension planning.

It’s always been more difficult for older people to secure employment and these schemes have existed for donkeys years in one form or another. But this government, being what it is, spins it so that it looks as though they thought of doing it first.

I know this. I'm not ignoring the challenges. I know life is harder as you age. But this is going to be the same for everyone younger than WASPI also. This is why I'm trying to explain some of the younger attitudes and opinions

Part of the reason women got their state pension earlier was to equalise the gender pension gap. Women often had long career breaks to bring up children or care for relatives so had gaps in their NI record. Getting the state pension earlier compensated for this. Now the so called equality means women get less state pension on average as well as less private pension.

Particularly as they have no problem in communicating effectively when they believe we owe them !!

And this is where we differ I guess. I am far away from a Tory. But I do believe in self independence and community. But personal finance is a personal individual matter.

Spot on BlueBadge. 😁

@MalvernValentine And I would actively support young people campaigning around rents and houses. In fact I did support this before covid.
Intergenerational dividing helps no one. We need to support each other to fight for everyone.

Im open to hearing from younger women (I have two adult daughters) but equally as an older woman I would also like to be heard, without being insulted and accused of living a life of luxury (not saying that you are doing this). I think if we could dispense with the stereotypes and just listened to individual stories, then we could expand our understanding of what it means to be a young or older woman. We have more in common than we realise.

Since you raise this utterly spurious point, I broke even with the state last year by my calculation, at 68. I see people are still saying "but why should I have to help pay your pension when my services are reducing?" So it's, well, thanks for all the stuff you paid for me & mine, but I'm fucked if I'm going to do anything for you when you need it.

Like very nearly everyone of my generation and the one before us, I fully believe in and value a mutually supportive society. Apart from anything else, I've lived in a country with a poor welfare system and seen how the damage afflicts everyone, not only the left-behind. I'm painfully aware the UK has now changed its views on this and, frankly, am glad I'm going to be dead in ten years because I don't want to live in a fuck-you society.

Only 16 posts to go; better get them in quick everyone LOL.

I also agree about how badly disabled people were treated in the recent past. There was no PIP or DLA. There were home helps who got you out of bed and washed and dressed you, and meals on wheels. Nobody got money for the extra costs of disability. And disabled toilets were very rare.

I know young people have real challenges and rents are at a ridiculous level. But young people also do not seem to understand what they have better than the previous generations.

I own my home. Recently arranged some improvements involving several different things. Without fail, every single time, the reps attempted to tell me they would need to speak to my husband as well as myself. All had the decency to apologise when told that would be difficult since he died several years ago and l am the sole householder. Didn’t stop one firm from addressing the quote to Mr and Mrs Doody though !!

@GGarlicking spurious? How so. I argued that it was irrelevant on both sides of the argument. I don't think younger people a fuck you attitude. I do think we're all more financially aware though. Congratulations on "breaking even" as you say. I guess that is subject to you having no major care or health needs in later life. I wonder where this fuck you attitude from younger people might be coming from?

Competing?

I'm pointing out that when I looked for help, I was told that I was in the same position as a mother of two healthy children. I wasn't. I was utterly exhausted after spending my working day looking after 30 children at a time and then gong home to care for disabled adults with no respite.

The carer who scolded me came to our home to assess my husband's care needs. I'd been told by the stroke rehab ward that he'd get x number of visits a week. The carer took one look at me and cut them to zero. I made the mistake of saying "I don't know how I'm gong to manage."

I did my job - and did it well according to reviews and inspections - physically looked after three disabled adults, spent years with broken sleep, did all the paperwork for them for those in my care. In amongst all that, I didn't have the time to chase after paperwork which I erroneously thought would be sent to me timeously. That's the point I'm making.

If you don't understand the difference, then I hope that you're never in that position yourself.

Yep. Attendance Allowance came into existence in the 1970’s and paved the way for DLA, and more recently, PIP. But my main issue is not so much that it took so long to put support in place, but the assessments they force disabled people to undergo in order to qualify. They are badly designed, bear little to no relation to the cost of disability and are weighted against the claimant at every point. Disability discrimination is still alive and well, just in different forms.

Disability discrimination is still real and we have a long way to go.
Attendance allowance is for people over state pension an people can still claim it. Older people can not claim DLA or PIP unless they were already getting it when younger.

A young lad came to my door and tried to convince me that I needed home improvements. In the end, I said I'd take a quote for some repair work.

He asked whether I had a husband...because he'd need his agreement too, for a quote. (Eh? I'd already told him that I owned the house. Yes, I'm fortunate...I know. Scrimped and paid off my mortgage myself before I retired.)

Through gritted teeth, I told him "I'm a widow."

"Oh. It'll be 'Ms', then.'

There's an irony buried in there somewhere.

@12345change

"Well actually I believe we should (I fall into that category) have been written too - I definitely have not had a letter about. But it is different they still have time to write to us... I wait in hope I will get a letter but I very much doubt it.. There really is no excuse for not communicating more effectively"

So there is a change to the retirement age to 67 or 68 that the majority all know about, but we should all be entitled to compensation because we haven't had or remember having had a letter about it. Seriously?

You know, the Tories must be rubbing their hands with glee seeing all the in-fighting here. If we're arguing with one another, we're not sorting them out.

Don't vote for them then.

I'm nearly 64. Have never voted Tory in my life.

Thanks for the snark.

Yes, I don’t think most younger people quite understand how it was years ago. They have been cushioned.😉

It's funny that none of you ever have!

So why do you care about whether the Torys are "sorting things out"? I am very happy for them to do whatever gains them the least votes.