Women born in the 1950s who were financially impacted by changes to the State Pension age have today been told that they would not receive compensation.
Campaigners claim they were not given enough warning to prepare for the later retirement age, leaving many struggling to make ends meet.
Here, we explained what happened, and why the government has rejected the Ombudsman’s findings that compensation should be paid.
What is the WASPI campaign?
The Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign was set up to pursue redress for the Department for Work and Pension’s (DWP’s) failure to notify women in time that the State Pension age was changing. It says that the DWP’s oversight affected around 3.8m women, causing many of them significant emotional and financial stress. The group supports the equalising of State Pension age but objects to the lack of transparency about the changes.
A report published in May 2024 by the Parliamentary Health Services Ombudsman (PHSO) concluded that mistakes were indeed made by the DWP and that the WASPI women were wronged. It recommended that DWP apologise to the women affected and issue them with compensation. It proposed payments of up to £2,950 each, at a cost of up to £10.5bn. Since then, the WASPI campaigners have been pushing for compensation to be paid.
Why has the government rejected the Ombudsman’s proposed compensation?
The Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer today said that those affected would not be compensated due to the “burden” this would place on taxpayers.
Speaking earlier, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall apologised for the delay in notifying those affected of pension age changes, but claimed that the “great majority of women knew the state pension age was increasing”. She added that issuing them with compensation wouldn’t be “fair or value for taxpayers’ money”.
WASPI campaigners branded the decision “bizarre and unjust”. Angela Madden, chair of WASPI, said: “The Government has today made an unprecedented political choice to ignore the clear recommendations of an independent watchdog which ordered ministers urgently to compensate Waspi women nine months ago.
“This is a bizarre and totally unjustified move which will leave everyone asking what the point of an ombudsman is if ministers can simply ignore their decisions. It feels like a decision that would make the likes of Boris Johnson and Donald Trump blush.
“The idea that an ‘action plan’ to avoid such mistakes in future should be the result of a six-year Ombudsman’s investigation is an insult both to the women and to the PHSO process.
“An overwhelming majority of MPs back Waspi’s calls for fair compensation and all options remain on the table.”
Ms Madden said that Parliament must now seek an alternative mechanism to force this issue onto the order paper so that those affected can receive redress.
Liberal Democrat Work and Pensions spokesperson Steve Darling MP said: “Today is a day of shame for the government. The new government has turned its back on millions of pension-age women who were wronged through no fault of their own, ignoring the independent Ombudsman’s recommendations, and that is frankly disgraceful.
“The Conservative party left our economy in a shambles, but asking wronged pensioners to pay the price of their mismanagement is simply wrong. Today’s heartless decision cannot be allowed to stand and we will be pressing ministers to give those affected the fair treatment they deserve.”
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