AIBU to think that WASPI women should not be entitled to compensation?

[mugglewump]

They've been on the news again marching for compensation in a climate where the government is having to make very difficult decisions about funding to stop our debt ever increasing.

I think there are far more deserving cases for goverment money than women who didn't act on information at the time and sort their pensions out or keep working (p/t or f/t) until retirement age.

Moreover, the people paying this compensation are those who will be working until they are 67 to 70 to claim a state pension. Surely, it's a bit ick to expect them to bail out women who retired at 60?

I have to admit I know very little about this - but women were really retiring before doing even considering they should have got a letter telling them they would soon become eligible for their pension? For real? And now that's everyone else's fault but theirs?

The lack of further education or childcare support doesn’t mean you should be able to get an earlier retirement.

I have been ‘paying into the system’ since 15/16 and I won’t be getting a state pension until my 70s (if at all).

Why should you be compensated for not being able to retire a full 10 years earlier (at least) than me?

What do you think about every other woman that comes after you, who will be retiring even later than you?

I am a waspi women and I agree. You’d have to be living under a rock not to realise this was happening. I had to give up work early as trying to work and care for a disabled adult was becoming impossible, which is another story in itself. I was very aware for years that I wouldn’t get my pension until 66, I checked online that my contributions were enough to get a full pension, and there it is in black and white, 66.And has been there for years. All of my contemporaries at work were aware of the change too. We were all pissed off that we’d have to work longer but we were very aware that it was happening . I understand that the ombudsman has agreed with the waspis, but in all honesty they can keep my share of a payout, I knew, it can be put towards nhs etc etc.

No way should they get compensation. It's not like you can plead ignorance of law/ regulations in the rest of life. What happened to taking personal responsibility for your own life choices!?

@Badbadbunny It's funny you should mention endowment mortgages, that was one of the ones I often had calls about. A lot of the time they hadn't saved the money they should have saved in the investment/endowment side (and which we'd recommended to them to save) and had instead spent it all and were now shocked that they didn't own a house. No rational adult would think £43.50 a month for 25 years was ever going to pay off a mortgage on a £50,000 house. A basic calculator could tell them that.

My mum didn't know. Believed she would get state pension at 60.

It was a huge shock to her. I don't know HOW she didn't know, can't say it was on my radar, but I believe her when she says she didn't.

Except she's got dementia now, in her mid-60s, so she's forgotten she felt shafted for a while. So that's something.

As it happens, as someone whose pension age is now 67, probably to increase again before I get there, I think the issue for her wasn't that it changed but that she genuinely didn't know it and saw it as a changing of goalposts when it was too late for her to fix it. How did she not know? Unsure. She worked 60+ hours a week in her 40s and 50s, I can't say she had much time for current affairs. Doesn't matter to her now. She doesn't always remember my name, or how old she is.

The timetable was first set out in 1995 and no changes were made until 2010. Even when the deadline for state pension age to equalise at 65 was brought forward by two years there was still six years notice given. I'm not sure how much more of a heads up people needed.

Maybe a few people didn't think to check but the idea that this needs to be remedied by current working age people having to fork over yet more billions of pounds to an entire generation of retired women in the middle of a cost of living crisis with the Exchequer and most public services on their knees is unbelievable.

Big "however" though - the way Labour aligned with the WASPI movement right up to the point they actually got into government was pretty cynical and I can understand why the campaigners are miffed about that.

This! The information was readily available and it's clear that these women are trying to claim compensation due to technicalities. All well and good if we were a country with a load of money to throw their way but the reality is that funding these compensation claims will directly take money away from other important government departments. It's really reprehensible!

I also think their claims are based on a completely incorrect assumption that had all of these women known about the change then they would have prepared for their retirement appropriately. Going by the fact that many men of the same age are also completely ill equipped for retirement and they haven't had any such change to contend with, it's clear that there is a huge contingent of the population that will never be financially ready for retirement. It is something that lots of people have as a blind spot and obviously causes huge problems when the time comes and they find they haven't got the funds they need.

Regardless of any opinions on Mumsnet. An actual Ombudsman has decided that compensation is due, the government have chosen to ignore (despite harping on about being in favour until they were in power. It's not about receiving a letter or not. It's having time to plan. In some cases (e.g.) divorce settlements were agreed assuming state pension age of 60.

I think what sticks in the craw for me is the way in which so many of the news articles contain sentences like, "after working for 30 years, Brenda was in dire need of her retirement, only for it to be torn away..."

I started work at 16 and fully expect SP age to be 75 by the time I get there. So I'll have worked 59 years, almost double what Brenda has. Even those of my peers who started working at 21 will have worked 54 years. And yet Brenda wants my generation to pay compensation because it's outrageous that she had to work for 36 years rather than 30.

And that's if there even is a state pension by the time I get there, which I fully expect there won't be. We'll be working until we drop, but sure, let's ensure that those who got to go at 66 get their windfall.

I am biased against, mainly as my Mum is a WASPI, but was aware (and didn't make any provisions for the change) and has quite shamelessly said that she will tell everyone she didn't get a letter / was not aware - so as to get a payout, because how can they prove she didn't?

Her justification - she had had to struggle through a time of less government help/childcare/tax breaks/working rights and she is owed.

Exactly. The Ombudsman ruled maladministration on behalf of the government plus:
-The DWP failed to act promptly enough on its November 2006 proposal to write directly to affected women

• The DWP failed to use feedback to improve service design and delivery

So it's irrelevant what posters on MN think about it. The reason it will end up in court is that government ignored Ombudsman ruling.

Plus 78x Labour MPs actively supported WASPI campaign for compensation prior to being elected. Many articles/tweets etc including from Starmer saying these women should be compensated.

I'm sorry to hear about your mum's dementia. It is a cruel illness.

But when she was younger, did she never watch or read the news? I am not directly affected but it was pretty well publicised and I struggle to understand how anyone could have missed it.

I do think there is an onus on individuals to keep themselves reasonably well informed about changes in legislation that might affect them, and also to take steps to manage their own finances appropriately.

When did your mum find out, exactly? Surely she didn't just retire without checking anything in relation to her pension entitlements?

My mum has said the exact same thing (despite retiring at 55!)

We can all have different opinions and anecdotes but I understand that for the WASPI women they have a recommendation for compensation and Keir Starmer repeatedly said they should have compensation. Yet, now, no compensation.

I don't understand how they can claim they didn't know - it doesn't affect me but I knew all about it

I'm inclined to agree. None of the generations following will be able to retire at anything like 60, and we all just have to suck it up. It's pretty grim but it is what it is.

Im a WASPI woman - I don't believe these women who claimed not to know about the changes - it was BIG news, everybody knew and discussed it - especially those of us affected.And since my private pension is pitifully small I plan on working at least until my early 70s.

Totally agree. How on earth they can claim they didn't know is total stupidity. It wasn't the dark ages, it was 25 years ago and all over tv, radio etc.

I cannot understand the argument for compensation. My mum is a WASPI woman (born in 1952) and was fully aware for many years pre-retirement of when she would get her state pension She didn’t quit her job at 60 and expect the payments to start based on ‘how it’s always been’.

It’s like saying I’m going to quit my job tomorrow because I’ve had enough and I assume I will get all unemployment payments as we have a welfare system. Then when the payments don’t arrive I expect compensation because no one ever wrote to me before I quit my job to explain the rules and entitlements.

If there is compensation, it should be for those who are living in hardship. My mum was one of the one of those impacted, born in 1954 and whilst I agree that the way it's done was unfair, it hasn't impacted her lifestyle in the slightest. I'd rather the money went to those pensioners who can't afford to put the heating on or have a hot meal.

"Sorry but how is ANY of this relevant? People knew and if they didn't they must have been ignoring adverts that were everywhere. FWIW I also started work at 16 but will have to work till I'm 68 (at the moment, obviously that's likely to be pushed back) and yeah kids today can leave school at 18. Great. Then they need to go to university because even admin jobs require a degree these days, for absolutely no reason whatsoever, so they'll also be starting out with £50k of debt."

@Shwish this.

I knew about the changes to their pensions and I'm in my thirties. And we are all getting shafted in very different ways-should we all get compensation?

I am 37. I started working at 12 (yes, that's right, 12). I worked during school, sixth form, undergrad, postgrad and my PhD. I have only just started earning above the national average. I pay my tax, NI, student loans and a hefty workplace pension contribution before I see my take home pay. My partner and I will be buying a house together soon. My partner is 40. We are desperately trying to secure our financial futures in the knowledge that the state pension may not even exist by the time we become pensioners.

One of the reasons we have decided not to have children is because we cannot afford to give a child and ourselves the sort of lifestyle we would want.

So yes, I would be incredulous if a group of people who were given ample time to make changes to their plans but decided to bury their heads in the sand were given compensation. Because that compensation would be added to my already ridiculous tax bill.

I'm a WASPI and definitely think we can't afford to compensate. Can't remember whether I was informed specifically or saw mention and checked for myself, but......it should never have been agreed that they should be compensated! I feel more sorry for those who have yet to retire tbh 😒

My mum and her sisters are WASPI, they don't support this. They knew at the time, it was as all over the news (I remember it being talked about), and were not surprised. They'd been mutterings for some time that women's retirement age would be brought in line with mens. When there is a deficit I don't think this should be a priority.

Because there's no money...