WASPI women explained - who is eligible, possible compensation and Ombudsman report
28.09.2023 - 11:19
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
WASPI - short for Women Against State Pension Inequality - is a campaigning group for women affected by changes to the state pension age.
Their lives have been 'turned upside down' by historic state pension age changes. For thousands of women born in the 1950s, the state pension age change went from 60 to 65, and then up again to 66 - was not communicated properly.
A government watchdog is investigating the Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) failure to communicate the changes, with some women given as little as 12 months' notice.
WASPI campaigners say women born in the 1950s experienced financial hardship as their retirement plans were directly hit after the state pension age increase, reports LancsLive.
The group points out that this change compares to the six years notice men received for a one-year rise to their state pension age. They claim the lack of adequate notice robbed millions of women of the ability to adequately plan for their retirement.
For women, the rise in state pension age began in 2010 following the Pensions Act 1995. After realising their state pension age was actually 65, a WASPI survey of 8,000 women found 32 per cent failed to find another job to tide them over financially.
WASPI has long been fighting for fair compensation and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) is currently looking into whether the DWP should pay compensation for failing to adequately communicate the age changes. Campaigners are calling for a minimum of £10,000 compensation for every woman affected.
A final report on the DWP investigation - including any compensation the PHSO could recommend - is yet to be published after being delayed.
Women falling into the WASPI cohort include those born between April 6,