50s women

You're 100% correct Chucky we definitely do have to have complete equality with men, including the bits we might not like. And had 1950s women had complete equality with men during our working lives; parity of wages; full access to pension schemes; encouraged and supported in the workplace regarding childcare instead of having total responsibility for that and not having been told we couldn't work post marriage, we'd have had a completely level playing field. Fact is, we didn't. Many of us did bits part time work, earning very low wages and no access to pension schemes, so that the men could go out to work and leave caring for the family to us. And then we got shafted when the SRP age was accelerated, without actually letting us know when our SRP age would actually be, leaving us with no time to make future plans.

Frankly I can't believe you didn't know any of this.

We fought for equality, not for equality apart from the bits we don’t like! I don’t get state pension until I’m 67 (first age group who have to wait this long).

Surely those who wanted to be equal with men realised that they couldn’t pick and choose what bits they wanted equality in?

I, like most others have never received notification that I wouldn't get my pension 13 months ago when I turned 60. At 58 I closed my small business down as I was no longer fit enough or had good enough eyesight to continue, I had only been self employed about 10 years and have made the required contributions. I found out from the tax office when I closed the business that I didn't have 2 years to wait for my pension but 8, now 9. So I work 6 hours a day on minimum wage and hope I can keep going, oh and I look after a very disabled brother too. I had never had the opportunity or wages that men had, there was no equality then, so for them to say they are doing this for equality for men is disgraceful. How many women over 60 do the government and DWP employ? And I don't mean as cleaners or tea ladies, there is still no equality, and its very difficult for women my age to get a job at all. I wonder if its a government ploy to create a readily available workforce to man the care homes, even though it can be very heavy work, and more people have to go into care homes as daughters have to work till they are 67.

I when considering taking early retirement 12 years ago rang the dept of work and pensions to confirm the date of my state pension ,it was confirmed over the phone it would be on my 65 th birthday this was confirmed in a follow-up letter ,as I had saved up and been frugal all my adult life I was lucky enough to base my calculations on this ,paid off the mortgage with part of my lump sum and invest the rest some months later I received a contradictory letter telling me the goalposts had changed and I would not receive my state pension until 10 months later....how could this be considered legal let alone moral

I am always completely puzzled reading threads like this about how many women say they didn’t know that the pension age for women was rising.

I can clearly remember my in-laws talking about it at least 20 years ago.

After all we are only talking about the state pension which of course was only ever intended to be a top up to a private pension.

If everyone made proper provision for themselves at the beginning of their working life, this delayed state pension wouldn’t be a problem.

Actually it can be just as bad sitting at a desk with arthritis. I know . I often couldn't get up from my seat as my hips hurt, my hands were as stiff as boards and my elbows ached. I sat for 8 hours per day as that was my job looking at a computer screen interviewing customers . Since I stopped work and became more active my joints don't feel as bad. I can choose when to sit, stand or go for a stroll. I am not better; just not as bad.

Gabriella G 54 how old were you when you got your state pension ...65 I presume? not a fully paid up member of the sisterhood are you ?

But seriously how many men do you know who have spent their entire adult life juggling jobs, childcare , looking after homes, looking after elderly and/or disabled parents and grandparents ?

There are probably tens of thousands of women who do this day in and day out .

No one complained about the men having to work 5 years more, I don't remember! the difference is this generation of women were discriminated against at work. They were paid less, found it hard to carry on working after having children and many were in low paid part time work. In the 70s, 80s and 90s when we were making those decisions we expected to receive our state pensions at 60. Men at that time found it easier to get work and were paid more.

GabriellaG54 people citing health issues as they are getting older are usually health issues which affect oder peopl. Arthritis is one of the main one's the pain can be unbearable at times and if you have a job which involves manual labour rather than sitting at a desk it will cause you a problem. With women especially, after going through the menopause we loose muscle mass which makes us tire more easily and working a full day is too much for some. So unless you are on HRT I think you would struggle.

Just to add to this debate I have been able to claim my state pension this year and also one of my private pensions. I am still working part time ( for the DWP!!) so because if my income I am now taxed at a higher rate!! I have also had to ASK for my NI conts to cease as it was not done automatically. So the government get you one way or another.

It's totally disgusting.
I'm 62 & working part time, my work often requires early morning starts & sometimes late nights, find it quite exhausting sometimes, we don't have the staying power of the young!
I was never informed of this change of policy in my fifties and only learned of it at 59! Thankfully my partner still works at the moment.
The man who decided all this, for us girls then retired on a £100.000 pension & not yet 65! Nice guy!!!!
I'm incredibly pee'd off!!!

What really annoys me is that I went back to work part time after having my children. I worked for several years before they enrolled me in the Company Pension Scheme. Therefore I was not receiving any pension contributions for all those years. I feel that I have been let down twice!!

The thing that never seems to be mentioned is that women have never received equal pay to men so getting our pension earlier could be seen as a small recognition of this, in addition to the difficulties many women experience as they age due to our physiology, the long term effects (for many) of childbirth and the caring duties that lots of women take on, saving the state a fortune.

Gingergirl, I'm in exactly that position. Worked hard all my life and thought I'd be able to retire at 60. No, have to work for another 2 years or reduce or standard of living considerably. Nothing wrong with living frugally, but having worked hard all those years, I feel that i shouldn't have to. You get your pension once you have paid NI contributions for 30 years. I've paid in for far longer than that. It really unfair.

No one should slate you, you are right. it does seem very unfair for healthy people to live their lives on benefits while hardworking women have to wait longer for their pensions. ?

Sadly they are now saying that some of the personalised data on the website was wrong (for all women born in one particular year?)

I was given plenty of warning before I was 60. Every women was, and it wrong to say we weren't

Lucky you quizqueen, because im damned sure I most certainly wasn't informed and, according to 3,000,000 other women, neither were they. I received one letter, when I was 58, telling me that my pension age was being deferred to age 62. After that, I heard nothing more. It was only by going on YouGov website that I then found out my pension age was being deferred again to 64.5. And then 65.5. Maybe you were a special case.

Fairly sure when I’m nudging 66, if I get there, they will then move it up a couple more years. They’re already talking about taking away the bus pass for 60 plus to even it up for younger people. My kids had free travel until 18. I’ve had three months of it!

The changes weren’t phased in so gradually, SunnySusie. For the worst affected, there can be three years difference in pension age between women born 12 months apart.

Dolcelatte some companies have changed the retirement age upwards for their employees. When my daughter's state pension age was increased to 67 I said at least she would get her company pension at the age of 60. She said that she wouldnt be getting that until she was 67 because the company had changed the retirement age to 67 on that as well!

I received my pension at 63. Some people on this thread are asking why the changes from 60 to 66 were not phased in, but my understanding is that in fact it was phased. If I had been born a year earlier I would have had my pension at 62 and a year later at 64 and so on.

At my place of work we were told about 20 years in advance of the changes. We all had a letter and posters were put up in each department. HR provided advice and you could request an interview with a pensions advisor. It was the public sector so maybe we were fortunate.

I do think it is correct that men and women should receive a pension at the same age. If we are trying for equality then it has to extend to everything. I have sympathy, particularly for those that have to wait to 66, but I can see why the court case didnt suceed.

I do feel very sorry for younger people. The last thing they need is for those at the end of their careers to be reluctantly staying in their jobs, reducing the chance for young people to progress.

optimist many women in their 70s did not have access to a pension scheme unless they worked for government, local government or a very large company. Smaller companies tended not to run pension schemes for their workers. I was in this situation so I decided to keep investing in my home and traded up and up until after I retired. Then I was able to sell up and buy a smaller property and have capital to hand to supplement my state pension. But not everyone is in the position to do that.

I an 1 of the very many women who will not get my pension until I am 66 and a half I am now 63 I am lucky in 1 way I have a wonderful husband who has his own pension plus a good private pension. I had to retire at 48 due to ill health it us so unfair as I gave to wait so long I also dont get my bus pass till the same age which def is needed. I have mobility probs and the bus pass would be a huge help so come on let's get this money which we have all worked for plus we could then have our bus passes please please let us have this

It's disappointing, but I wasn't honestly expecting anything from this. I'm a member of WASPI, which is campaigning for a bridging payment to help the women most affected by the very steep hike to the state pension age, and the lack of appropriate notification. The Back to 60s group's aim of reversing the state pension age is unachievable, imho, but I certainly wished them well in the legal challenge.

The pension age has to be equalised, no doubt about it, but other countries have managed to do it gradually and with plenty of advance notice. George Osborne is on record as saying that this was easy money. While some women are really suffering. Says it all, really.

I must say the air was blue round here when I read on the BBC News website that the court has ruled that the rise in SPA corrects historic direct discrimination against men. What about the historic direct discrimination against women that we have all lived with? What about the lower pay for women doing the same work? The pension schemes we couldn’t join if we were part time? The women routinely asked at interview if they were going to have children? The women passed over for promotion? Is that going to be corrected?

Perhaps that will be a whole new court case......