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.

This is it, exactly.

This is just unpleasant. Like most generations there are haves and have lots. The notion that all women of a particular demographic are living it up and care nothing for anyone else is really offensive.

Being a woman still in my 50s - just - I had my retirement age pushed up from 60 to 65 back in the 1990s, (because I was born after 1960.) It was pushed up to 66 a few years later..

So I am struggling to care about the WASPI women. Especially as, in the late 1990s - several women at work who were several years older than me, laughed at me, when I was told I had to work to 65. (They only had to work til 60 because they were born before 1960.)

They stopped laughing when it all changed, and they had to work to the same age as me. (I started laughed.)

As I said, I'm struggling to care about them.

But we're talking about people who know stuff ( or don't) before they make certain decisions.

So true. I always roll my eyes at the "women didn't work" comments too. So many people can't see outside their own upbringing.

I agree with the decision, but then I don’t think the Ombudsman made the right call in the first place.

I have a lot of sympathy for the women (and men) who had their pension age raised from 65 to 66 with very limited notice but the increase in women’s pension age was communicated everywhere at the time, and if some women hadn’t been living under a rock they would have had plenty of time to plan.

The WASPI campaign also seem to completely ignore (or perhaps don’t care) that it’s not just their age group affected by the increase in pension age.

If the letter was binned that's fine but it should have been sent. Any pension provider would have communicated a similar change in t&c

What about my dad (and millions more) who had to work five years longer than my mum - in a dangerous, cold, outdoors manual job - just because he was a man. It’s unfortunate that a few people didn’t pay attention to the news but the country can’t afford ten billion quid to ‘compensate’ them for that.

It makes me sad to see and hear how people talk about today’s pensioners. These are the people who paid tax and national insurance to help fund other peoples pensions. It’s as if people now claiming pensions are a drain on society and on young people who can’t get on the property ladder because older people are hanging onto their homes.

The Ombudsman should be listened to - the demographic on here is mostly younger so asking if the government is correct in going against the decision is a bit of a waste of time.

Why is it offensive? It's the truth. Where do you think the money is coming from? You're wanting to take it from people with less than you, who will retire later than you, who will never have the opportunity for housing that you have.

If you want the money, own it. But you have to live in the reality that it is selfish.

@goldencabbage Yeah but the state pension isn't a pension and you don't have any Ts&Cs to vary. The government just change eligibilty criteria for a state benefit. They do it all the time.

Pulled 50 million out of his arse for Syria at the start of the week though didn’t he.

My mum is affected. She knew and understood; said it was communicated very clearly and she had plenty of time/opportunity to rectify the matter and get more information.

It’s difficult to reconcile the views on this board sometimes. On the one hand, when it comes to the WFA it was right to withdraw it and no one needed it. And anyway, pension credit or whatever it’s called is there for those in need. On the other hand, just 5 to 7 years apart, this bunch of women are all destitute and it’s a grave injustice that they won’t be compensated. Even though, if they truly are that hard up universal credit will plug the gap.

Say what you like about this government, they are at least consistent. I’ve made my own judgement about whether consistently good or bad, but certainly consistent at ‘U’ turns on its position before being elected. It’s almost as if the grown ups didn’t realise how hard being in government is when they were playing student politics in opposition…

I couldn’t agree with you more. I am disgusted by the comments. If this had happened to men it would have been settled long ago. Given that the Scottish Government have failed to account for 8 billion guven during covid, this amount is a drop in the ocean.

This affects the poorest women in the country who have already suffered having their winter fuel allowance removed.

20 years ago Gordon Brown identified the oap’s as being the most deprived in our society thus the reason for introducing the winter fuel payment.

Don’t worry all of you 30+ jummy mummy’s what goes around comes around. By the time that you retire there will be no state pension and you’ll be working till you drop

Less than me? I have never stated my income.

@Kingoftheroad I mean we know that, which is why we aren't keen on giving billions of pounds to people pissed off they couldn't retire at 60.

Then they probably should write a letter every time they do that until they learn people need notice to plan financially

I knew my pension age increased to 64 but suddenly the coalition escalated it to 66. That's the issue for me and that's what most people don't understand.

And? Lots of other people wouldn't have understood or realised it meant them.

Waspi here. I never bought the Waspi argument - I felt I had plenty of time to catch up, and anyway it was nuts that women could get their pension 5 years earlier than men, especially when women’s life expectancy has always been longer. I’d rather the money was spent on the NHS (which I am increasingly benefitting from).

Right decision. For tax and pensions it is the responsibility of the individual to keep up to date on changes. Retiring at 60 in the current economic climate and with current longevity is simply not reasonable. Sorry.

Why wouldn't they? Can they not take responsibility for watching the news, reading letters sent, doing their own research?

Don’t worry all of you 30+ jummy mummy’s what goes around comes around. By the time that you retire there will be no state pension and you’ll be working till you drop

I think that's exactly why people aren't keen on paying out £10bn in compensation to people who still got to retire much eaŕlier...

Like others, I think the ombudsman was wrong on this and so support the government. You just can't set the precedent that people deserve compensation for well advertised changes to state benefits - and the only reason anyone contemplates it here is that people are really squeamish about accepting that the state pension is a benefit. It was fundamentally wrong and based on sexist assumptions to have a different retirement age for men and women and it's not reasonable to say that a government couldn't change that without writing to everyone individually.

And if that was the only thing they were campaigning about I think there would be a lot more sympathy - but there was a very vocal cohort who were campaigning to still be allowed to take state pension at 60