WASPI Women

[Happy Lady]

I was born in the 50s and as I started my career it was always believed that I'd retire at 60. However, that changed when the age when women could receive their state pension increased to 66.

At first I was angry, frustrated and upset as I suddenly had to continue working another six years to be able to afford to retire. However, at 61 I started with aches and pains as many of us do as we get older, and there were things I wanted to do while I was well enough. Some of my friends even died and it was really upsetting.

So I retired at 61 and have enjoyed every minute of it, albeit my savings have dwindled very quickly. I still have to wait until I March next year before I can receive my state pension.

I fully support and respect the group of women who continue to battle on to try to win this cause. I have lost over £42k due to the age increase, and there are thousands of other women in the same position.

Are you one of these ladies or is your mother, sister, or aunt in the same position?

 

[Yel]

I do think even the WASPI women will be seen as part of a lucky generation, not the luckiest but still up there.

The state pension was setup for people who had a hard time and lived beyond the average age. It seemed to be more so they didn't starve to death.

As life expectancy increased it turned into something very different and is now seen as something that should be expected to fund people for 30 years.

This just isn't realistic. It should have been pegged to life expectancy a long time ago. Especially as women outlive men.

The changes started to be announced in 1995, so people did have a long time to prepare. Yes there were more changes being brought in since then, but it was pretty obvious that the system needed reform and it was likely to happen. It's very dicey to rely on state support and assume it won't be changed.

Before the Pensions Act 1995, the state pension age had been 60 for women, and 65 for men. The Act changed this so that the women's pension age would be made equal with men, but that the transition should only be phased in from 2010 to 2020.[9] In 2006, a cross party Parliamentary report again recommended equalisation of ages on the basis of equal treatment of both sexes. It also recommended a rise in the state pension age for both men and women to 68 between 2024 and 2046. The rationale for the age rise was that people would be living longer in the future.[10] This was put into effect by the Pensions Act 2007.

However, when the Conservative and Liberal-Democrat coalition took power, the Pensions Act 2011 accelerated the rise of the state pension age to 66 for both men and women by 6 October 2020.[11] Under the Pensions Act 2014, the coalition government again accelerated the rise in the state pension age to 67 by 6 April 2028.[12]

While it must be difficult for those affected by the change (some appear to have stuck their head in the sand and hoped it wouldn't happen) I think the whole state pension thing won't be around for that much longer. So it's even worse being someone <45 who will pay for a benefit for others to receive that they won't get themselves.

Boomers are still estimated to take far more out of the system than they put in. So who will fund it if there's no reforms?

One government minister who understands the trend is David Willetts. In his book on the subject, he reckons that the average boomer will get 118% more in benefits and services over the course of their lives than they have paid in taxes.

 

[Happy Lady]

Many of us have already paid into our state pension, so all we're hoping for is the chance to be recompensed, otherwise we've paid into something for nothing.

I look at it similarly to company pensions in that individuals pay into a pot of money, which is like a savings scheme (for a better way of explaining it). Over the years I've held different positions in different organisations, but when I turned 60, they all wrote to me with my options. Did I want to leave it alone, or withdraw it all, or take some out, or start taking monthly payments.

So this is what I would also expect to receive from my state pension too. The difference being that if an ex employee dies prior to receiving their pot, then it can be passed on through the Expression of Wish. But, not State Pensions.

Sorry for rambling but I'm not happy about the situation, and I really feel for younger people who will need to work longer and save more before they start to draw their state pensions.

What really gets me cross is when people expect young ones, or anyone under 66, to save more, when there are so many people simply trying to get by from one pay day until the next so they just can't save.

Rant over ... As you were.

 

[HoGi]

Many of us have already paid into our state pension, so all we're hoping for is the chance to be recompensed, otherwise we've paid into something for nothing.

I look at it similarly to company pensions in that individuals pay into a pot of money, which is like a savings scheme (for a better way of explaining it). Over the years I've held different positions in different organisations, but when I turned 60, they all wrote to me with my options. Did I want to leave it alone, or withdraw it all, or take some out, or start taking monthly payments.

So this is what I would also expect to receive from my state pension too. The difference being that if an ex employee dies prior to receiving their pot, then it can be passed on through the Expression of Wish. But, not State Pensions.

Sorry for rambling but I'm not happy about the situation, and I really feel for younger people who will need to work longer and save more before they start to draw their state pensions.

What really gets me cross is when people expect young ones, or anyone under 66, to save more, when there are so many people simply trying to get by from one pay day until the next so they just can't save.

Rant over ... As you were.

Current NI conts pay current state pensions though. There is no "pot"

 

[Melian]

Meanwhile, there's a rumours about todays youngsters not being able to retire until they're 75. And the retirement age just keeps going up. But there's no uproar over this.

 

[Sir John Elton]

I read something , on one of the governments economy pages , that said there’s no money for state pensions past 2030. I don’t think there is enough focus on saving for the future now , more so to own your own house (as prices increase and the Bank of England print more money). Life is crazy eh!
on topic though , my mum has lost out as she is now67 and I know a lot of women I previously worked with who were in similar positions. It’s hard , very very hard. But no resolution in my eyes , as the decisions have been made.

 

[Happy Lady]

Meanwhile, there's a rumours about todays youngsters not being able to retire until they're 75. And the retirement age just keeps going up. But there's no uproar over this.

This is exactly what I don't like. If youngsters are paying into a state pension now, then they have every right to receive payment as they reach their 60s. Waiting longer is awful.

You mention that there is no upright ar over individuals waiting until they are 75. It's horrible, but I think some are waiting for the outcome of WASPI women before they react.

Where is the money going? Why wait for so many years? It's shocking.

 

[no-no]

I’m not and don’t know any personally but used to dip into the hashtag on Twitter and they have my full support. I’m very hesitant about pensions etc. and the only reason I’m considering one is to reduce my student loan repayments.

 

[Cheapseats]

They upped the school leaving age the year before I left school (from 15 to 16). I sat my o levels and then was offered a job in an office but as my 16th birthday was in autumn I was not allowed to officially leave and start work til after Christmas. They kept the job open for me because the job market was good in the mid 1970s but i felt i was just marking time and losing wages.

Then my pension was delayed at the other end of my working life til I am 66.

So I kind of feel robbed at both ends of my working life.

 

[Saddlesoap]

I read something , on one of the governments economy pages , that said there’s no money for state pensions past 2030.

tit, is this true? I'm reasonably good with money, but think I need to take it more seriously.

Can anyone recommend a pension? I'm clueless x

 

[Yel]

Meanwhile, there's a rumours about todays youngsters not being able to retire until they're 75. And the retirement age just keeps going up. But there's no uproar over this.

It's going back to how it ever was for most people, you work until you die. The current crop of pensioners is a bit of an abnormality, that's disappearing.

Decades of underpaying and voting in parties that continue with the underinvestment is coming home to roost and there's no easy answers. Wouldn't it be lovely to let everyone retire at 60, hell why not 50 - but how do you make it stack up?

Spare a thought for all the youngsters who are being screwed over from so many different things, and most don't even realise it yet.

The waspi women's argument sadly doesn't add up, many genuinely do think they've got a saving pot that's been robbed. Maybe if they'd have started campgaining harder back in 1995 when it was announced they'd of got further.

 

[Isa Drennan]

@Yel What would you advise is best for youngsters these days pension wise?

 

[Yel]

Find a job you love so it doesn't feel like work!

I'm not sure what can really be done pensionwise as people going forward will need to be in the top percentile to have a decent retirement.

 

[Saddlesoap]

Find a job you love so it doesn't feel like work!

I'm not sure what can really be done pensionwise as people going forward will need to be in the top percentile to have a decent retirement.

I'm one step there then, I do love my job, I mean, it feels like work because it's physically taxing, but not otherwise.

Another reason to make me glad I'm childfree.

 

[Cheapseats]

I think the most pressing issue for younger people
more pressing than pensions, is housing. The selling off of council housing was the worst thing the Thatcher govt did. None of my closest friends own their own house before I hear that's the boomers fault.

Something like 5 m households rent privately and that's going to grow. The rents have shot up.

My landlord considers the house we currently live in to be their pension pot.
So you can take their advice and buy your home and buy a buy to let to secure an old age income if you're fortunate enough to be able to do so.

But be aware that regardless of whatever they do at the moment the govt in future will likely take it all off you to provide for your care in old age should you get ill and need assistance.

Or you can look into cooperative societies which is what people did in the 1800s and not be divided and ruled.

 

[Happy Lady]

I think the most pressing issue for younger people
more pressing than pensions, is housing. The selling off of council housing was the worst thing the Thatcher govt did. None of my closest friends own their own house before I hear that's the boomers fault.

Something like 5 m households rent privately and that's going to grow. The rents have shot up.

My landlord considers the house we currently live in to be their pension pot.
So you can take their advice and buy your home and buy a buy to let to secure an old age income if you're fortunate enough to be able to do so.

But be aware that regardless of whatever they do at the moment the govt in future will likely take it all off you to provide for your care in old age should you get ill and need assistance.

Or you can look into cooperative societies which is what people did in the 1800s and not be divided and ruled.

You have mentioned some good points here @Cheapseats.

I agree with your landlord providing arrangements for their pension pot. Everyone needs more than the state pension.

My kids, who are in their mid thirties want to own their own homes, and next year, hopefully, my son will get on the property ladder.

Our homes will mean a lot in later life when and if we need to enter a care home. My mum had a small bungalow and every penny went on her care, but it was well worth it. Being in her nineties brought her a new lease of life living in a place where I knew she was safe and looked after every day. When and if I need the same level of care, I hope I will be able to afford it.

So, as a WASPI women I am truly hoping that we are compensated for what we consider should be ours.

I have never claimed benefits during my life, but I do feel very strongly about this cause. It it absolutely daft to state that any of us should have been "prepared" for it. If we didn't earn enough then we couldn't save.

I have to say though, that I'm totally against all the age increases that will be implemented to the younger generation who are expected to wait even longer before they will be paid their state pension.

I will now get off my soap box.

 

[hydeist]

@Yel What would you advise is best for youngsters these days pension wise?

Depending where you are and what kind of work you do, your employer might have one they already use and you can opt in to start paying into it out of your wages. You aren't stuck with whatever pension you decide to go with, you can move your money around to other funds if you find something better or that suits you more, it's just good to make some kind of start especially if your employer makes contributions when you pay in!

Current NI conts pay current state pensions though. There is no "pot"

This is pretty much it, we aren't putting our money into a savings pot, we're just paying taxes and if we don't vote for cunts/things don't go to total tit we might get a pension out of it when we're older Nobody paid into a pension pot that they're now owed - what you paid in NI ten years back got spent on that year's pension.

It's not nice but it's the way it works if we choose to rely on the chance of a state pension in the future.

 

[Happy Lady]

WASPI state pension report due to be published and it could lead to compensation

Almost four million women have lost up to six years of their state pension due to DWP changes, but an Ombudsman investigation will soon be published and it could bring compensation payouts

www.mirror.co.uk

We'll, this sounds a little promising.

 

[Sketchy]

The raise re women's state pension age from 60 to 65 was made in 1995. I only know this because I have internet access and can research this information. The DWP (or whatever they were called back then in 1995) said they informed every woman born in the 1950s of this change, by letter. They didn't - they lied - what a surprise. I can confirm this because I am one of these women - no letter - I would've read it, kept it, and considered myself informed. There was no social media back then either, so no internet research was possible, and only one or two newspapers mentioned the change apparently - virtually nothing on the news on TV either, so it was hardly widely publicized.

Even as recently as only a few years ago a Government website stated that a woman's pension age was 60 - this has since been amended due to the outcry re the Waspi Women campaign, so who can blame women for being confused?! Then within the past few years the state pension age for both men & women was raised to 66, and 67 for anyone born after a certain date in the 1960s. This was widely publicized, especially after a minister at the time (Guy Opperman) stated in parliament that 1950s-born women - now mostly in their late 50s, and who, up until a couple of years beforehand thought they'd be receiving state pension at 60 ... should consider taking up apprenticeships to tide them over until they reached 66.

Physical ailments usually start around 50 yrs of age, especially if someone has had a physical job throughout or even during their lifetime - remember, no such thing as health & safety in the 70s & most of the 80s. Is the government going to ensure everyone with health problems now is provided with a nice, easy sit-down job until we finally retire? That applies to BOTH men and women, I may add. It's unlikely. I think they just want us dead so they save on state pension payouts.

I really fear for the younger people now too. That moron Iain Duncan Smith wants the pension age to be raised to 75. Yes, SEVENTY FIVE years of age. WTAF??

Unsurprisingly, I'm all for the Waspi women btw.

 

[zoominmoom]

I understand that as life expectancy increased, it was no longer feasible for the government to fund people to retire at 60. For the average woman, that's almost 30 years of life they'd be receiving a State Pension. HOWEVER - life expectancy in the UK is now declining in some regions. Will the government roll back the State Pension age to reflect this? I won't hold my breath!

As an aside, I'm not really sure how the State Pension was ever thought to be sustainable - isn't it just a giant Ponzi scheme?! The State Pension of current retirees is funded by the National Insurance contributions of working people, so if Bob claims State Pension, Sally, Pete and Anne have to pay for it through their taxes. When Sally, Pete and Anne retire, they will each need 3 working people (or however many) to fund their State Pensions, and so on it goes. Maybe someone who understands it a bit more than me can put me right on this, but I don't get how it's meant to work unless the population continues to increase infinitely.