WASPI Women - getting compensated

[CanSeeClearlyNowTheRainHasGone]

I've just read this:

The government will reconsider its decision not to award compensation to Waspi women, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden has said.

And I'm livid at the incompetence of Labour.

Having put the issue to bed once, they are now going to create a heap of trouble for themselves.

Either they decide (again) not to make any payouts - in which case, cue more outrage from WASPI and negative headlines.

Or they decide now that they will make payouts - which goes directly against the whole "we have to raise taxes" budget.

Or are they really so stupid that they're going to carry on paying everyone, raising salaries for Public Sector, 2-child cap, WFP, etc and carry on bleating about a black hole and how we must all pay more tax.

Am I being unreasonable that this seems like madness?

Well done you. 👏

Yes it was everywhere in the 90s. I said that in the post you quoted. Are you even bothering to read the posts you’re quoting and responding to?

After my divorce, I had been a full time stay at home mother (not that this is any of your business). My ex was a Police officer, we had moved away from all my family because of his job and he worked shifts. I at that time did not have the qualifications to go to work and be able to afford child care. There was no free nursery care, no grandparents to help out. There were only child minders who used to have about 10 children around their feet at school time. I was totally on my own with my two children. Now I could have sat on my arse and lived on benefits but I didn't. I had a computer with dial up connection to the internet but couldn't afford that. I didn't even know how to use the dam thing. So I went to night classes (early evening) leaving my children who were 14 and 10 alone for about an hour. I then went to a government run scheme to learn how to use my PC. I then went to college to do a women into a WOT course, then ended up in hospital having a hysterectomy. My relatives came to stay at my house to look after my children. By the time I had recovered from that it was to late to start the 2nd part of my WOT course and was told to restart the following term. Then I ended up in hospital again this time a friend helped me out with the children. While I was in hospital I decided secretarial work really wasn't for me. So instead of finishing the WOT course I did a Health and social studies course with direct application to the local hospital and did 3 years training to become a nurse. So no I didn't have bloody time to read sodding newspapers. I couldn't afford internet until i was working and had never heard of flaming Facebook back then. Same with watching TV by the time I had done my assignments and household chores I was lucky to see any TV. I don't know why you don't believe me but I genuinely did not not know about the pension age changes. I was never sent a letter and social media was just starting to become a thing. It is part of most peoples lives now but back then it didn't exist. As I mentioned up thread it was an HCA at work mentioned it to a group of professional Nurses and none of us had heard anything about it!

I am talking about the changes form 60 to 65. Not the 2nd change to 66

But if you became a nurse and then found out while you were working you were not financially disadvantaged. In fact you benefited from being able to save into the NHS pension for longer so presumably had a higher retirement income. Yes you had to work longer, but I’m afraid that level of ignorance is not something that deserves much sympathy let alone compensation.

Well, I'm very sorry to hear about your personal situation, you obviously felt the need to share it here. You did hear about the change though from an HCA colleague, so that's something.

She clearly has no idea about the WASPI issues. She’s just on this thread to have a go at older women.

No, we've covered this clearly; I realise that the whole compensation demand is based on the 'lack of notice' premise, as that's the one where an 'in' was found - that's patently obvious. However, I remember an awful lot of complaints - especially in the earlier days - based on the actual changes, rather than the changeover.

Look at how much insistence and justification there's been on the many threads that we've had about this for years based on the fairness or otherwise of previous generations of women's financial circumstances and opportunities compared to those of later generations. None of that has been based merely on the notice period of the changeover.

Has the Ombudsman found that all of the men who were equally affected by the rise in their pension age did receive adequate official notice of the increase? Why hasn't there been a whisper from any groups about them? Especially considering that they tend to be the more vocal and demanding sex in most things.

Has the Ombudsman found that all of the men who were equally affected by the rise in their pension age did receive adequate official notice of the increase? Why hasn't there been a whisper from any groups about them?

Because a) they got a lot of notice, b) they had a maximum of one year delay and c) they got the same benefits like bus passes and free prescriptions at 65 although their pension was delayed by a few months.

You really do know fuck all about this, don’t you?

Eh? Well done for being an average person with average exposure to the media at the time?

This.

My mum is in this cohort (being born in 1954) and even she is outraged with this and thinks its pure fucking nonsense.
Everyone but EVERYONE knew.

I'm not wanting to have a go at older women at all. It's a discussion forum and I've been discussing the issue - on this thread since it began and countless others.

I'll leave you to it now. I don't think anybody is going to change their viewpoint on the situation, especially now it's just degraded into aggression.

I think you'll find they only see them as worthless until they want them to be unpaid slaves raising their grandchildren.

How true!

Raising their grandchildren?

RAISING?

Lol.

Don’t make me laugh.

You are so shockingly far removed from the real world.

Have you been living in a cave? The expectation that grandparents give freely unpaid childcare, is pretty much the norm.

That’s not the same as raising their grandchild. I provide childcare for mine but it’s not 7 days a week.

The expectation that grandparents give freely unpaid childcare, is pretty much the norm

It’s the norm? Really?

Firstly, the majority of children in the UK under 5 are at nursery/or at a childminder.

Over 5s are in school full time.

I can imagine situations where there are grandparents genuinely raising their grandchildren in kinship placements etc, where there are addiction/mental health issues in the family.

But occasionally spending time with your grandchildren, god forbid, without the parents present, isn’t raising them FFS.

I suppose if you call it ""occasionally spending time with their grandchildren"" it makes you feel better, but in my experience of friends doing this the time is always at school pick up, or other times when it helps the children's parents to avoid paying for childcare so they can work.

And in so many cases the grandparents were never asked if they wanted "to spend time with their granchildren" it was just assumed that they would. They are mostly too polite to complain. (I should say that my children always knew that they shouldn't have children if they couldn't look after them themselves. I can think of nothing worse than minding babies for other people. I love and am interested in my grown up grandchildren, and we all get on well!) Clear boundaries are wonderful things.

Yes, it’s important that people take responsibility for their own lives. Having children, understanding the rules for their own retirement….

I should say that my children always knew that they shouldn't have children if they couldn't look after them themselves. I can think of nothing worse than minding babies for other people.

Of course you did. Classic!

I can now see why you think occasionally spending time with your grandchildren is akin to raising them.

I love and am interested in my grown up grandchildren, and we all get on well!

From your perspective, sure. Most grandchildren are raised to be polite to and respectful of their grandparents, even if they did actively chose to be absent for a large part of their lives.

This might be difficult for you to hear, but lots of grandparents actually like spending time with their grandchildren and don’t view bonding with their grandchildren as “minding” them. Shocking, I know.

Anyway, we are now veering off topic, but your posts seem to be very centered around money.

“unpaid slaves raising their grandchildren”

”when it helps the children's parents to avoid paying for childcare so they can work”

It’s no surprise really, that you feel so strongly about being compensated by the Government and entitled to such compensation for retiring when you couldn’t afford to pay for it yourself. Remember what you always said to your children.

I should say that my children always knew that they shouldn't have children if they couldn't look after them themselves.

Perhaps you should have followed your own advice.

Just to say I'm generation X and won't reach state pension age until 68. Its not just millennials and gen z

Not in my circles. Grandparents rarely live near enough to provide childcare.

@AirborneElephant of course we understood the rules, did you think you were very clever to imply we didn't?

The rules were that we could be paid less than men, that we could be sacked for being pregnant, that our jobs only had to be kept for us for six weeks after giving birth, that we got six weeks maternity pay, that workplace pensions didn't have to be open to women and that there were very few nurseries, let alone funded childcare. The one concession women got was a pension at an earlier age.. We knew those rules, then the rules were changed not once by twice , in some cases with little warning. No wonder people feel aggrieved.