Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI)

Many women only received notification of changes to the state pension age when it was raised to 66. Over 3.6 million women born in the 1950s were victims of what the Parliamentary Ombudsman has branded maladministration. 

A recent report from the Ombudsman shows the DWP's failure to adequately inform women of the proposed changes in state pension. The report also stated that the government needs to look at how it notifies changes and deals with complaints.

The Ombudsman’s report recommended compensation for the 1950s women and calls on Parliament to act as the Department for Work and Pensions has said that it would refuse to comply. 

WASPI calls for financial compensation in acknowledgment of the financial and emotional hardship caused but the recommended payouts of between £1000 and £2950 per person fall far short of the £10,000 plus that the campaigners are calling for. 

Labour and the Tories are both refusing to commit to compensating WASPI Women. Both the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and the Labour Party Chair Anneliese Dodds declined to say if they will compensate those who have lost out. 

This position of the two main parties is likely to enrage campaigners and MPs within their own parties who have called for compensation. 

Mel Stride, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, refused to to provide a timescale by which the government would report back to Parliament and will likely try to delay consideration until after a general election. 

Jeremy Hunt further stated that they hold a High Court Appeal report from 2020 which indicates that the DWP behaved completely within the law and didn’t discriminate. 

Clearly we need to keep up the pressure to support the WASPI women's case who have launched a petition and which we would urge you to support. Click here to sign the petition.