Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall dashed the hopes of self-styled WASPIs across the UK on 17 December 2024, when she informed the House of Commons that a proposed £10.5 billion compensation scheme would not be “fair or proportionate to taxpayers.”
WASPI, or Women Against State Pension Inequality, was founded in 2015 by five women as a voluntary organisation to argue for transitional payments for women born in the 1950s, between 5 April 1950 and 5 April 1960, who had been affected by recent changes to the State Pension Age.
The universal State Pension, since modified on many occasions, was introduced by the 1946 National Insurance Act as part of the post-war welfare system, to serve as a safety net against poverty in old age. It came into effect in 1948-for men from the age of 65 years and women from the age of 60. The Conservative government’s subsequent intention to equalise men’s and women’s State Pension age at 65 was first announced in a consultation document, ‘Options for Equality in State Pension Age’, published in December 1991, and formalised in the 1993 White Paper on ‘Equality in State Pension Age.’ The 1995 Pensions Act that followed increased the State Pension age for women from 60 to 65 for women born after 5 April 1955, while those born between 6 April 1950 and 5 April 1955 would have a State Pension age of between 60 and 65, depending on their birthday. This change was to be phased in over ten years, between April 2010 and April 2020, for women born between 1950 and 1955. The rise in pension age was speeded up by the 2011 Pensions Act. Women thus reached equality with men, at 65, in November 2018 instead of in April 2010. The State Pension age further rose to 66 in October 2020, and is set to rise to 67 in 2026 and to 68 in 2044, depending on age.
Back in November 2019, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell pledged £58 billion to compensate all women born in the 1950s whose State Pension age had been increased by the 1995 Pensions Act. Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party, included compensation for WASPIs in his 2019 general election manifesto. The campaign group BackTo60 launched an action against the Department for Work and Pensions in 2019, on the grounds that the increase in pension age amounted to unlawful discrimination on the grounds of age and/or sex and also that they had not received sufficient notice of the changes. The campaigners lost their case against the government in the High Court and then in the Court of Appeal in September 2020. The Court of Appeal sympathised with the appellants, Julie Delve and Karen Glynn, but concluded that equalising the State Pension age for men and women did not equate to unlawful discrimination under EU or human rights legislation.
WASPIs contend that it was appropriate for women to retire earlier on the ground that they had to take up increased responsibilities at home, and also that many were either not informed or received inadequate notice of the changes to the State Pension age. While in opposition and in the run-up to the 2024 general election, the Labour Party continued to speak up in favour of the WASPIs. Once in power, the official Labour stance was to harden.
In December 2024, the Government accepted the finding of maladministration in the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) report on ‘Women’s State Pension age: our findings on the Department for Work and Pensions’ communication of changes’ from July 2021. The Government apologised for a 28-month delay (from December 2006 to April 2009) under a previous Labour government in sending out letters to 3.8 million women affected by changes in the State Pension age. The Government concurred with the PHSO that this maladministration did not cause any direct financial loss for the women and also observed that unsolicited letters are not automatically read. At the same time, the Government also disagreed with the “Ombudsman’s approach to injustice or remedy.” Pleading poverty, it pointed to the unaffordability of the PHSO’s March 2024 recommended £10.5-billion level 4 WASPI compensation bill, made up of flat-rate payments of between £1,000 and £2,950 to all those affected by the pension age changes.
As the demands of ageing populations continue to weigh heavily on budgets, governments are driven to defer pension payments wherever possible. While adequate notice is considered to have been given and the decision to raise State Pension age was not unlawful, communication of these changes between 2005 and 2007 were not as effective as would have been desired, and may well have affected retirement plans for some. Unfortunately, the Labour Party’s previously stated support for WASPIs has been undermined by what many affected women consider a betrayal in its refusal to consider any form of financial compensation. In political terms, the ruling party’s current approach to WASPI issues has delivered yet another blow to its declining public standing. The battle for “justice” is by no means over.
Ashis Banerjee