Today In Parliament: I'm sure they mentioned WASPI but.....

theworriedwell

So in 14 years about 10 per cent have died?

Not entirely sure, but the figures are often quoted as being since the Waspi campaign began, not since the start of the pension age increase.

I wonder how much the oldest waspi women are expecting? You know the ones who got their pension a few weeks or months late. Hope they aren't expecting thousands.

So in 14 years about 10 per cent have died?

Yes the second change was very different to the first.

theworriedwell

So the oldest are 74 and youngest are 64. The way people talk it's like we are more like late 70s and 80s. Also the older ones only had to wait a fairly short time as it didn't just change overnight but was staggered. The second change was the bigger issue in my view.

The second change was, indeed, a big issue, because older friends and relatives had been retiring at a graduated rate and, by then, it was possible for everyone to work out roughly when it would happen to them. The acceleration was particularly hard and pretty wicked as - by then - it was obvious many people had been caught out.

One piece of official advice was that women should seek apprenticeships at the age of 60. I remember a story about a woman in Aberdeen who contacted every city centre firm to enquire. You can imagine the response she got.

Considering how other groups have been treated WASPI women have little chance of compensation.

All governments drag their feet in these matters. The contaminated blood scandals, the post office, and many more. I've been rewatching programmes about Aberfan and the appalling way the donated money was used to remove the slag heaps. That was a Labour government looking after ordinary working people.

I know there are MPs who recognise the injustice but other than the WASPIs themselves very few people care or think compensation is justified. Even on GN some show little sympathy.

It's estimated that 3 million women were affected, of whom just under 300,000 have died since the Waspi campaign began and the official figures from Waspi say affected women are dying off at a rate of one every 13 minutes. The campaign also publishes the amount of money saved by government(s).

My local Tory MP's office told me years ago they couldn't deal with anything about Waspi unless it all came direct from a local constituent so I went off and boned up over a long period of time.

When I finally felt able to talk knowledgeably to the MP, he'd become a junior minister ... and his office said, as such, he now couldn't take sides on the Waspi issue!

I never did get to talk to him, or them, about it.

So the oldest are 74 and youngest are 64. The way people talk it's like we are more like late 70s and 80s. Also the older ones only had to wait a fairly short time as it didn't just change overnight but was staggered. The second change was the bigger issue in my view.

How old are waspi women? I'm 71 and thought I was at the older end so many must be 60s and very early 70s. I'm a bit alarmed that we are all dying off so fast. I thought I'd got another 15 plus years to go.

I must go and check dates.

As many Waspi women are among the so-called "next poorest" - those just above the qualifying point for additional pension help - the present government seem determined to keep paying lip service, while the death rate reduces their eventual payout.

Just like the last lot.

Withdrawal of the winter fuel allowance has brought foward the Waspi issue, so some ministers and MPs are having to justify staying silent where, previously, they were sympathetic.

The Waspi campaign is doing a good job of keeping awareness going, but it became sadly obvious on Budget Day that the noisy, peaceful protest outside Parliament was low-or-no priority among press and politicians.

Over several years, the Tories saved £48,000 a head from half the retiring population, some of whom received no, or very little, warning.

George Osborne said it was the easiest savings he'd ever made.

I know this has been covered extensively here, and that there are always responses from people who felt the warning was adequate (and those who did not need the WFA).

A court has already judged that WASPI women should be compensated and, in future, I expect there will be severe consequences of a failure to do a proper impact assessment on WFA withdrawal.

The heartlessness of waiting for more of us to die off has been difficult to absorb and understand, especially since the election.

Yeah, it’s the classic “throw a bone” move—acknowledge it just enough to say they did, but without any real substance. Typical.