Q&A - Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI)

Agreed, Day6. As another of the worst affected, losing 6 years of SPA, I fully appreciate that the state pension age has to be equalised for men and women. I would accept a loss of 6 to 12 months pension as part of a fair and gradual move towards equalisation. This is how it has worked in other countries, but unfortunately successive UK governments have ignored the issue for years then rushed it through by throwing us under the bus. Like you, I have a small occupational pension that I paid for over many years, so cannot claim any benefits. I was made redundant just before my 60th birthday and decided to help my DC with childcare as I always promised I’d do when I retired. They needed me then, not 6 years down the line. I know I am luckier than many, but we are eating into the savings we thought would be our cushion in later years. Many women are in desperate straits. At the WASPI demos, I have spoken with some of them, including two who have had to sell their homes, and one with a terminal illness who knew she would not live to get hers but was still fighting.

To be fair, my understanding is that just about all occupational pension schemes have changed enormously over the last years - later retirement ages, huge increase in employee contributions and for many loss of a defined benefits scheme in favour of money purchase and all this without employee approval. As an unaffected person re the state pension, however, whilst I accept there had to be equalisation upwards to 65, the great injustices are not having a fool proof system of notifying every woman when the charge in legislation actually happened and secondly not just doing it incrementally a month at a time as I believ3 it first started to happen. As for the level of the SP, I believe we have one of the lowest amongst the major Eiropean countries. Labour tried to improve this way back with SERPS but that has now gone. A real turning point was when MT broke the link between pensions and earnings

True, maryeliza54, many occupational pension schemes have changed a lot recently as well, and not usually for the better, unfortunately. But in the case of mine at least, the conditions stayed the same for any member up to ten years away from their retirement date, and we all received letters telling us about the changes and how they would affect us. There was a consultation period as well, when we were invited to comment, not that the more cynical amongst us thought it would make a blind bit of difference....

On the other hand there were the occupational pension schemes like Maxwells.......and BHS. I really am not saying that what’s happened with the state pension is OK because bad things happen with other pensions. I suppose what the whole sorry mess tells us is that we ( collectively) have not taken pension provision seriously enough in this country for a long time and have been willing to put up with politicians who didn’t want to have well funded pensions ( for the hoi polloi because it would have meant higher taxes- or less generous tax allowances for those in receipt of high salaries and excellent pension schemes.

Yep, I’ve got (or rather haven’t got) one of those pensions as well, maryeliza. I could be a poster girl for pension schemes good, bad and disappeared. Three years (fortunately, just three years) paying into a scheme in the 70s that was embezzled by its trustees. They went to jail, but that was no comfort to the people who lost out. And then we WASPIs are told by our critics that we should have made better provision for our old age. Easier said than done, especially when so many of us had periods of working part-time in an era when it was okay to deny part-timers membership of a pension scheme.

I’d like to think things could be better for our children, but I’m afraid they’re on track to be much, much worse.

It’s all a mess isn’t it - no wonder those that could invested in buy to let as a pension pot and look where that’s got us.

I'm 58 married in poor health and will have to work till 66 . Working in childcare for a pittance.just want yo have some options before I retire. If id known sooner I would of tried harder to get out off my otrsdnt job.

Sorry present job.

I’m in a similar situation to you Harris27 I’m 56 and my pension forecast shows that I will be 68+ before I can retire. My DH and I have a just over 10 yea age gap and we had planned to retire together when he was 70 and I was 60. Out of the window now. Can he work until 78? I very much doubt it.

Hi gillybob that's so unfair I feel for you.my husband is only 3 years older than me and in much better health thank goodness . However what about the fact that the goal posts are moving rapidly we might not reach retirement, worrying thought.

Harris27 I believe thats the plan ,we'll all die before we can claim a pension...

68+ for me, at the moment.
Who knows, it may go up again?

Tend to agree with you paddyann. The WASPI movement seems to have ground to a halt; its been months since I saw anything in the news about anything new being discussed. I have a feeling that we've been kicked into the long grass.

I’m the same as you MissA (68+) and fear that with ever moving goalposts and all the extra stresses and strains thrown at us we may never reach that golden age of retirement . As Harris and Paddyann have said that is probably the general idea .

There's a meeting between the APPG and representatives from the various campaign groups on April 25th. The purpose is to discuss the findings of a survey the APPG did last year and to put in into Carolyn Harris' Private Memebers Bill which we hope will be heard after the summer recess. There's more cross party support for us 50's women so you never know......