Liz Truss ‘must help’ up to 3.8 million women hit by pension delay | Personal Finance | Finance
Some women received just 12 months notice of a six-year increase to their state pension age, destroying their retirement plans, says campaign group Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi). The letter claims that one woman dies waiting for justice every 14 minutes.
Campaigners want Department for Work and Pensions officials to consider a one-off compensation payment.
Angela Madden, the chair of the Waspi group, said: “Many women had taken early retirement or left the workplace to undertake caring responsibilities, in full expectation that they’d receive a state pension from age 60. Then the rug was pulled from under them.”
“Now Waspi women are facing their hardest winter yet, with no savings amid a cost-of-living and energy cost crisis.”
“This means many will have to make very difficult choices about necessities such as food and heating.”
The Pensions Act 1995 included plans to increase women’s state pension age from 60 to 65, so that it was the same as men.
The Pensions Act 2011 further increased the age to 66 for men and women. This affected women born in the 1950s.
More than a year ago, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman found that the Department for Work and Pensions had been guilty of maladministration in communicating changes to the state pension age to women.
The letter has been signed by 33,000 members of the public and campaigners are demanding a meeting with the PM.
The group said: “Our simple ask is that ministers open a dialogue with us.”
