Campaign group Women Against State Pension Inequality says the government’s communications blunder about women’s state pension age rises is having a “damning impact” on women born in the 1950s. More than 40 MPs have written to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman demanding its investigation to be fair and completed promptly. 

 

A new survey of 7,781 women born in the 1950s found 45% were unable to pay household bills, and a quarter struggled even to buy essentials. One in three reported having been in debt in the last six months. Waspi says thousands of women cited not knowing about increases to their state pension age as a direct cause of their financial hardship. 

 

Angela Madden, who chairs Waspi, said this cohort of women was among the worst affected by the cost-of-living crisis because of the communication errors: “The devastating impacts on thousands of women could have been avoided had the DWP done their job.” 

  

She said the women were “awaiting the fast and fair compensation they deserve” and urged the PHSO to take “the full diversity of women’s experiences and the irreversible damage that has been caused” into account in its reports. 

 

Dozens of MPs have written to PHSO calling for a fair investigation following letters from Waspi constituents urging them to do so.  

 

The template letter for MPs asks PHSO to, among others, complete the investigation promptly, take account of lost opportunities and refrain from demanding that affected women produce evidence to prove what impact the state pension age change has had on them. 

 

In 2021, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman found there was maladministration by the DWP, in the first report of a three-part investigation. A second report looked at the impact the maladministration has had on the affected women, but Waspi disagreed with the findings, challenging the process with a judicial review after having raised more than £100,000 through crowdfunding. PHSO settled out of court, agreeing to revisit part of its second report. Depending on whether it makes changes to the second report, it will also update its draft third report, which is on compensation for the 3.6m affected women. 

 

   

    

Women born in the 1950s saw their state pension age increased from 60 to 66 by the Department of Work and Pensions, which communicated the change inadequately. Waspi says this has meant many women gave up their jobs sooner than they would have, in the belief they could retire at 60.  

 

About 30% of affected women had already left work by the time they found out their state pension age had moved from 60 to 66, according to the survey, and a similar proportion (32%) said they could not find new employment after leaving the workplace. Waspi says others had reduced their hours or turned down promotions.