AIBU in thinking the government have made the correct decision not to blanket pay all WASPI women £3k? This goes against the Ombudsman recommendations to pay between £1k-3k to every WASPI women.

[caringcarer]

At the time it was in every newspaper for weeks, in the radio and on the TV news a lot of coverage via the media. Most women of this age agree they knew about pension age changes. At the time it was huge. I fail to understand how any women could not have known unless they lived off grid. No individual letters were sent out to the women who would be affected. The Ombudsman's recommendation was that a blanket payment of between £1k-3k be paid to all WASPI women. Labour have just announced no money will be paid out at all. It would have cost the taxpayer up to £10.5 billion pounds on top of the huge amount of my ney it has cost to review it for several years. It is money that the government just don't have. Assuming lessons have been learned and any future changes will see DWP send out letters to any individuals who it will directly affect. The only worry is that it sets a precedent of ignoring what the Ombudsman's recommendations.

Waspi women are not necessarily the poorest in society at all, my Aunt is one so effected, very well off.

Bottom line is the change in state age retirement was well known and reported but the most important reason is the country has no money unless you want to reverse the unfunded NI cuts to pay for this?

Or any other taxes you'd like to see increased or services cut?

Why does being a woman mean you can't understand pensions or take responsibility for your financial future?

These changes were announced 30 years ago.

I find it astonishing that a site that lauds itself on being pro-women, driven by equality and "for mums" has so many posters that actually do not support the poorest women in society.

Any stats for that? Because I'm willing to bet that single mums, disabled women, women fleeing violence, refugee women, and others are poorer. Now, there's a Venn diagram. But I don't think late middle age alone is a good indicator that a woman will be 'the poorest'.

My stepmum might have donated it to charity given it to her daughter or wiped her arse with it. It doesn’t matter. It was hers to decide.

Everyone knows that you're entitled to child benefit when you have kids. Should all those who had babies after it became means-tested also get compensation, because they didn't contact every woman of child bearing age individually?

Why should women get an earlier pension when we live longer?

I get that done feel they weren’t adequately informed but even young people on here have said they remember the adverts and it didn’t apply to this age group.

Last year they said the predicted pension age may be 72, given life expectancy hasn’t drastically improved but years with a lower quality of life have it means current young people will have a far shorter retirement on average than waspi women.

Not to mention the current twenty somethings who are predicted to never own a home no matter how hard they work and will be paying rent all through retirement.

Absolutely not. I'd like to see the rich and corporations pay their proper contributions instead of avoiding them. The money Amazon gets away with would more than pay for this.

Maybe not every WASPI woman is poor (I am not) - but the vast majority are in the poorest sections of society, often with reduced pensions because "childcare was their job" as wives and mothers. They didn't have the luxury of a choice. Many didn't have the luxury of working.

If we have such an issue with Amazon and them not 'paying their way' then boycott them. No, didnt think so!

There is a huge black market of cash in hand roles, people working in nail bars, car washed in barbers shop. They still look fully functioning and we are enabaling this by using them in the first place!

@EmmaMaria so people who did not work for a lot of their adult life are pissed off at not being funded by current workers to get their pensions earlier? Fuck that frankly.

I do have an issue with Amazon - so I don't use them. I do not use nail bars or go to cash car washes (because they are often associated with trafficking), and I have never found any need to attend a barbers shop. So you may not think so, but you are wrong - I do. I also avoid using companies associated with child labour. I may not always know the misdeeds of every service that I use, but where I do then I try to do something about it, no matter how small. It's a known fact that Amazon do not "pay their way" and avoid legitmate tax claims. I am in favour of all the tax avoidance loopholes being closed. You are in favour of tax avoidance then?

I'm a WASPI and quite happy with the decision.

That's very sad, but it could have been avoided if the person had taken responsibility for her own financial future by informing herself better or getting her own job/pension/annuity.

Tough one. It's really poor to have an Ombudsman and then ignore their recommendations. Yet paying out £10 billion when public services are on their knees absolutely sucks for everyone.

Probably I think they've got it right. The Tories are guilty of maladministration for not paying any of these massive compensation bills during their tenure, as PPs have mentioned.

Some of these women may not have known - been living under a rock - but many did know.
It is not sensible to pay out for everyone in the relevant age group just because some of them didn't know.

I don't think we should be paying people compensation for taking no interest in the news for decades.

Now I have just heard it all - on MumsNet FFS. Women who raised children and kept homes "did not work for a lot of their lives"??? Those are your mothers and grandmothers you are speaking about and you want to suggest that they were lazy gits or kept women? Nothing screams that this site is a bastion of middle-class women than that comment alone.

BTW - I pay taxes dear, so it isn't just "current workers" who would fund the compensation that has been recommended by an ombudsmans independant review.

The luxury of working? Poorer women have always worked, alongside raising a family.

I agree with this decision.

I actually think this is the right decision.

So much extra burden on the younger folks already.

Would be fucking cheeky to pay out 10 BN when today’s youth won’t be retiring until their 70s.
The correct decision. Ignorance is no defence. I don’t get a letter each time the government fucks me over.

My mum is older than these women, 85 now and not from privilege, from a working class background, worked all her life apart from when I was very little and knew exactly what her pension entitlement would be and when she would get it.

In fact if anything she was disadvantaged by rule changes allowing people to claim more pension when they had not worked for so many years when she always worked and paid in extra to make sure she had paid in enough to get the full pension. Other people had not paid in as much and now get the full pension.

I'm 20 years off state pension age and fully expect them to move the goalposts or get rid of it altogether by the time I get there.

@EmmaMaria Not sure about you "dear", but not being middle class my mother and grandmothers always worked. Home maker was not a luxury afforded to working class women.

Then why are we paying out far greater sums ( individually) to gay service personnel.who definitely knew the rules when they joined up?

WASPI women living up to the reputation of being the most entitled generation. They would literally see their grandchildren go to falling down schools if it means another cruise.

Complaining about getting better circumstances than their own children. It's insane.

How much will that cost in total?

Loosing your job is a lot worse than having a pension issue

They did make an error, letters were not forwarded, the whole point is women DID NOT know, certainly those that where first in line to be affected, those born in the late 50s where a bit better informed and had more chance to do something

not sending letters as they should have done is an ERROR