Waspi campaigners in Suffolk say they've lost 10 years of their lives due to delays

Campaigners in Suffolk say they've lost over 10 years of their life due to the delaying their state pension age.

It comes as the Government's been threatened with legal action - unless it grants compensation to the so-called 'Waspi' women.

They claim they were 'gaslit' by ministers, insisting they should have been made aware of changes to the state pension age.

Context

• In March 2024, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) Stage 2 & 3 report found clear maladministration in the way the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) communicated State Pension Age changes.
• The PHSO took the step of instructing Parliament to ensure the Government issues compensation and an apology as soon as possible to those affected.
• The PHSO recommended Level 4 (£1,250-£2,950) compensation. However, in December 2024, while an apology was delivered, the DWP did not compensate 1950s-born women.
• More than 200 MPs have publicly criticised the Government’s failure to deliver compensation so far, including 50 Labour MPs. At least 80 Ministers have also previously pledged their support.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman conclusions can be found here.

Who are WASPI Women?

The WASPI Campaign aims to get compensation for all women born in the 1950s (on or after 6th April 1950 to 5th April 1960) affected by the changes to the State Pension Age (SPA).

WASPI is not against equalisation but does not accept the unfair way the changes were implemented with what they believe to be inadequate or no notice.

WASPI is calling for a one-off payment from the Government in compensation for the lack of notice affected women received over State Pension age increases.

They maintain this decision resulted in serious financial losses, and sustained damage to their mental health and wellbeing.

WASPI does not campaign for the retirement age for women to return to 60, nor does it take issue with the law change itself.

"Financial constraints should not be a barrier to compensation"

We spoke to Karen Sheldon, the co-coordinator for the Suffolk WASPI group, and asked her how it impacted their lives.

She told us: "For many women they had already returned from the workplace to act as a carer...and once you have left a workplace, it is so much harder to get back into work and so there were opportunities lost (for work and earning) and in trying to do something about it."

Karen explained how this has led to a lack of trust in our government:

"The Prime Minister is ignoring his own parliamentary ombudsman, which states financial constraints should not be a barrier to compensation.

"...There has been a great deal of loss of trust in the government and because of that, it makes everything more sceptical.

"...WASPI women are very angry about this and the consequence is that they are more than prepared to fight on."

We asked Karen in a world where so many issues need attention, why do WASPI women deserve to be heard now?

She said: "WASPI women have contributed to society all their working lives and you can't disregard wrongdoing. WASPI women are all affected by the cost of living crisis and the heating allowance being taken away."

She explained that by changing the state pension age the Treasury had saved £200 billion and so the £10 billion sum of compensation was not much in comparison.

She also told us about the consequences that will occur if no action is taken: "To ignore the PHSO sets a dangerous precedent as the role of independent ombudsmen is to ensure there are effective checks and balances on government.

"This now leaves the door open for private companies to ignore the decisions of the ombudsmen e.g. banks with financial ombudsmen if they find their conclusions inconvenient."

WASPI's call to Parliament

WASPI campaigners are calling for the Government to fully implement the PHSO’s report

They say they will continue to take all actions necessary to help 1950s-born women achieve compensation but only Parliament can help make this happen: "The DWP is currently the perpetrator, judge, jury and sentencer in their own maladministration – the PHSO has instructed MPs to hold them to account and ensure justice is delivered."

Latest WASPI women statistics

A survey of 11,000 WASPI women carried out in winter 2024 found:

• 84% of WASPI women said they worry about the ongoing high cost of energy bills.
• 76% of WASPI women said they worry about the future of their finances.
• 71% of WASPI women reported they avoid leaving the house to save money.
• More than 300,000 WASPI women have died since the campaign began. Another dies every 13 minutes.

Ministers say they can't justify spending more than 10-billion pounds on a compensation scheme.

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