Govt considering u-turn on WASPI compensation

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https://news.sky.com/story/government-to-reconsider-whether-to-give-compensation-to-waspi-women-13468696

Oh God no 😖😖😖😖

Black people and Irish people also faced discrimination and didn't have the same employment or pay for decades - should they also have lower retirement ages?

When I started working life, there were often restrictions on being part of a pension scheme as a woman.

One job, had to have been there x number of years. Another two, couldn’t apply to join until 25 or 30 years old.

Whilst not totally up to date on this scenario, it’s really bloody annoying the rhetoric of “women of a certain age should have planned better”. There is a real undercurrent of vitriol on this site towards “older” people in various scenarios and it’s really not pleasant. We are approaching the point where it’s going to become less effective to throw out the “boomer” slur as their numbers decline. Can only guess there’ll be a new slur coined about Gen X so that people can carry on moaning about the “older” generations.

My mum falls in that age range and she knew and she didn’t really keep that up to date on things like that. As someone who will probably not get to retire until 70 if at all and not have much retirement due to probable Alzheimer’s I have little sympathy tbh.

I was an ignorant teenager when the changes were announced and i was aware of them and I didn't spend much time watching the news either!

Speaking as an Irish person. You are being ridiculous. FFS!

Well I was supposed to retire at 60 but don't get my SP until next year at 66 and one month so I suppose I have 'lost' about £50000. I will get the new pension rather than the old basic rate that I would have got at 60 but it will take around 17 years to make up the 'loss'. Hope I live that long.
I worked in banking and we were told at work at the time it was announced about the change in the qualifying age but there were some older ladies (mostly part timers on low grades) who were coming up to retirement at 60 and had planned their retirement on the expectation of getting their state pension at the same time as their small bank pension, about £2k pa as I recall, or at least when they got to 62.
They had a contracted retirement age so weren't allowed to continue working at the bank (pre EE regulations of 2011) and didn't have time to rethink their plans. Those ladies born in the early 1950's who retired before 2016 possibly deserve some compensation as they won't be getting £230pw, they will be on the old SP of £175pw.
If any is paid I think it should be means tested and anyone with income in excess of £35k should not qualify. Easy enough to do, they are doing it with the winter fuel allowance.
If they do pay compensation I won't get any. I miss out by a week.

You lot? You don’t know how old I am.

I knew about it as a very young teenager in the 1990s - it was discussed extensively in the media and press! I also simply don’t believe the women who say they didn’t know. Who doesn’t check any of their pension documentation, entitlement and qualifying years for literally decades? It beggars belief.

I was born in 1956 and am surprised that anyone did not know about the changes. These were well publicised and I would not want compensation to be paid, especially with the economy in such a bad state.

The easier the government get away with it, the easier they will do it again for us youngers

Our entire economic policy for the last five decades has been dominated by catering to the interests of the boomer-age voting bloc. That’s the entire reason for the triple lock and why the housing bubble has been propped up at unsustainable levels by government after government, for example. The unsustainable pensions and healthcare time bomb has been known about for decades, but no government wanted to deal with it for fear of alienating that age group who dominated voting stats.

Yeah, I would have been mid twenties and I can remember it being on the news and discussed by people.

Loads of notice? For pension changes that probably needs to be 30 years, incredibly well advertised, repeatedly, direct contact and through employers as well as national media. Did that happen? I am just slightly younger so not affected by this but I watch pension info like a hawk, but I am very unusual. The communication here seems to be the issue, not the principle.

Yes there were. I started work full time in 1986, pre any of the major pension reforms. The restrictions i had, were not sex-based, but income based, afe related and time-served. I worked for 1 of the big 4 and clearly the company wanted to restrict access to avoid those students who would fail exams or leave having access. The 1st major reform was 1988, and there have been several other pension reforms since. I would be astonished if people working in smaller companies had any information at all. I only took an interest at my age because my mum and dad (different industry) did. I kept all the paper work for years, many folders. I didn't move a lot, so could keep it.

I started work in 1993 so am younger than the WASPIs but I remember extensive coverage of it. I was affected insofar as when I started work my work pension age was 65 but my state pension age would have been 60 but changed to 65. I was at a stage in my life where I wasn't interested in pensions at all but remember all the publicity.

It was discussed extensively at work because it affected a few of my colleagues who were in that age group. There was a general consensus that the move to 65 was fair, and part of the equality battle women had fought. The Equal Pay Act had been in force for years, so the state pension age needed to mirror that.

Women affected by the changes had plenty of time to change their retirement plans.

100% agree

Compensation is awesome to recieve, but its a work to get it.

Nobody else will get 30 years’ notice. The entitlement is madness.

I agree. Pure greed. Everyone else is forced to take hits ‘for the greater good’, the boomers (not all obviously) seem to be very vocal about everyone else ‘living within their means’ etc yet fight tooth and nail to continue to feather their already very generous nests.

Absolutely fucking unbelievable.

im sick of this country to the back teeth. Seriously considering training as a teacher and leaving to somewhere like Dubai. All the wrong people are prioritised.

Agree. It’s just opportunism dressed up as ‘wanting things to be fair’. They’re already not fair on everyone else.

Im a boomer and I don't think it should be paid

Im a boomer and I don't think it should be paid

So this and lifting the child cap. Yet we are trying to plug the black hole rather than make it bigger. Bit of a joke really. But the squished middle will pay as always 🥱

I think every single “WASPI” woman should have to stand an explain why they think their payout is more important than the NHS, our schools, and social care. Every single one should be told what their potential payout could fund (NHS treatment, school staffing etc.) and explain why they think it’s better off in their pockets. Every single one should have to explain whether they own their property mortgage free, what their current level of income is, and their lifestyle, and justify it.

expose the greed of this generation for the entire country to see it.