Waspi women should be compensated for state pension age change failures

[IwantToRetire]

I heard a discussion about this on the BBC which was more detailed than this article, and implied that the problem wasn't so much how it was announced in the 1990s, but the later changes during the time Coalition was in power.

But suspect whoever is in Government there will be a delay in any payout.

https://www.professionalpensions.com/news/4188325/waspi-women-compensated-pension-age-change-failures

Somebody did try to suggest it wasn't fair on younger people to expect them to foot the bill (as if it hasn't always been the current tax payers who foot the bill at the time).

Which would be the same as saying the local government's who have gone bankrupt once it was shown they had discriminated against women employees and owed them money, shouldn't have to do it.

So not only are women too often cheated at the time, but are later told they shouldn't expect compensation because not fair on current tax payers.

(For some reason cant access the WASPI web site, but suspect it might just be overloaded. But when back on line may be worth checking their take on the situation. http://www.waspi.co.uk )

Surely if their retirement plans were inadequate with the notice they were given that they'd have to work longer, then they were inadequate already?

Unfortunately pension rules do change with the social changes , eg people living longer , more pensions to pay from working people.

It’s unfortunate, but a reality. On the radio recently, a spokesperson for the WASPI women said that the state pension should only raise by one year every ten years and ten years notice must be given for each year added.
Meaning if they raise the state pension by 6 years, it would take 60 years to get to that level.
That isn’t realistic.

Did you also know the government is going to stop people drawing their work/ private pensions from 55 to either 57 or 58 ?

On the radio recently, a spokesperson for the WASPI women said that the state pension should only raise by one year every ten years and ten years notice must be given for each year added.
Meaning if they raise the state pension by 6 years, it would take 60 years to get to that level

I'm pretty sure any govt is going to take zero notice of what Waspi spokepeople think should be pension age policy.

Illness notwithstanding I fail to see why anyone thinks they have the right to retire at 55, that is very young these days.

Mr Monkey is nearly that age and runs marathons in under 3.30 .

Why would you assume that the multiple people on this thread did receive letters and just took no notice of them.

What part of “we haven’t received a single letter about our pension” don’t you understand

Just because your sister has doesn’t mean that everyone else has

Some of us don’t watch tv (I don’t have a tv that picks up any of the main channels) haven’t for decades. Nor do i listen to the radio or get newspapers or magazines

The closest thing I have to see the news is noticing the headlines on newspapers at the petrol station

Some of us don’t watch tv (I don’t have a tv that picks up any of the main channels) haven’t for decades. Nor do i listen to the radio or get newspapers or magazines. The closest thing I have to see the news is noticing the headlines on newspapers at the petrol station.

I think citizens have a responsibility to keep an eye on the news. I live in another country and I still watch the national TV news pretty frequently in my non-native language, so native speakers really have no excuse (you don't need a physical TV to watch the news - UK TV news can be watched for free on YouTube.

Thank you for setting this out so clearly.

Some of the women calling for compensation are those who could afford not to work in their fifties. I have a feeling that people in work were perhaps more likely to be aware of the changes and planned accordingly.

The Economist had an interesting article which touched on this - "After the Pinch, the punch."

In 2019, Labour and the Tories were both falling over themselves urging that the Waspies be awarded (ridiculously large) amounts of compensation.

Fast-forward five years, and both parties are now muttering vague excuses and changing the subject. We've just had a budget which actually didn't give much help to pensioners (although that's not to say they've actually had no help - pensions continue to rise under the triple lock), and we're about to get a Labour government that is promising to build a shit-ton of houses and pylons near the homes of established property owners.

I'm genuinely not trying to be gleeful (my parents are boomers in the popular sense, though not in the technical sense (note) and are lovely people), just suggesting that I'm not alone in feeling that the balance needed to be redressed a bit. I think there has been a bit of a shift on here too, looking at the Waspi discussion now vs several years ago.

(Note) Britain's baby boom was quite limited (only about 2.7 kids each, not a huge rise) and didn't get started until the mid-1950s, as Britain was in a dire state after WWII and nobody was in baby making mood for quite a while, and then only lasted for about 15 years once it did get started. So Britain's baby boom cohort is not quite the collossus that people might think if they are making the mistake of taking the United States as a guide. Gen X will outnumber this cohort in the not too distant future.

My parents were actually born right after WWII, so not really boomers at all - the year that they were born, there was a crash in births and Britain was feared by some to on the verge of a literal famine!

@Yalta so you make no effort to keep up with current affairs and then complain you don't know stuff?

I'm trying to imagine being that cut off from what's happening in the world. I also don't watch the news, haven't for years, but I do read the papers and in 2011 there was the internet, FB and Twitter. That poster must have been locked in a cupboard.

I admit I am probably unusual - due to the nature of my job I am the type of person who listens to the Today programme every morning from 6.30am and has a constant online news feed. But still .....

I would have been 57 in 2011 -got my pension at 66 -had friends who got theirs at 60 at that time.
I was abroad some of 2011 so presume that’s why I didn’t know about changes.

The annoying thing is despite thousands of people of both sexes waiting years for their pension the money saved by the gov seems to have evaporated into thin air . Where did it go?

Some of us don’t watch tv (I don’t have a tv that picks up any of the main channels) haven’t for decades. Nor do i listen to the radio or get newspapers or magazines

The closest thing I have to see the news is noticing the headlines on newspapers at the petrol station

So it's your choice not to be informed. Whose fault is that?

@LittleWeed2 there is no "pension money" the state pension is paid for by taxes on the current working population. Just like all benefits.

So how did you hear of the seat belt laws, the reduction in alcohol levels for driving, Covid lockdowns, new airport security rules after 9-11, etc? Presumably you didn't "get a letter" for all the other changes in rules/laws that have happened over the past few decades??

If you want to live under a rock, not watch TV, not read newspapers, etc., then that's on you, and you face the consequences.

It was never "saved"? Never has been since the inception of the welfare state and no plans to do so. Current taxpayers have always been the ones to pay for benefits.

@IwantToRetire the main problem is that not all waspi women were actually notified!! I only found out when I was 55 while I was at a function and other women were discussing it. of the women at the table, only one had received a letter. i was informed then that i wouldnt be getting my pension till i was 66 instead of 60! 5 years is not enough time to plan extra finances. I missed out on £45k so why should I not be properly compensated?????

Surely the planning is you just keep working? Like the rest of us.

The state pension is about £11k a year, so it is not like you even needed to keep working full time to cover the difference.

If you paid your pension contributions, why wouldn’t you get a pension?

If people didn’t make the contributions, none of this has anything to do with them. They made that choice and re-made it repeatedly throughout their life.

Yes, always a good idea, but some may have already firmed up complicated plans, which might involve other family members/property/health. These might not have been easy to adjust at short notice.
The Ombudsman thought it serious enough for compensation.

Surely if their retirement plans were inadequate with the notice they were given that they'd have to work longer, then they were inadequate already?

My plans were to work part time until 63 (when I would have got my state pension under the old arrangements). That, along with an occupational pension, would have been adequate. As it was, I simply carried on working for a few more years, but was lucky to be able to do so.
I’m somewhat puzzled at the resentment and anger directed at women who the government body directed to look at this issue agrees have been hard done by.

It was changed from 60 to 65 back in 1995, so you had a lot more than just a few years to plan for it!!