Deputy First Minister Little-Pengelly Labels Treatment of Waspi Women “Appalling”

The UK government’s decision to withhold compensation from millions of women affected by an increase in the state pension age has been branded “deeply disappointing” by the deputy first minister. Campaigners from the Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) group assert that 3.6 million women across the UK, born in the 1950s, were not adequately informed of the rise in state pension age, which aimed to align it with that of men. Posting on social media, Little-Pengelly stated: “My mother is a Waspi woman and she and many women were treated appallingly and shabbily and deserve that to be recognised.” In March, a parliamentary ombudsman had recommended compensation ranging from £1,000 to £2,950 for each affected individual. However, on Tuesday, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall rejected this recommendation. Kendall commented that a bill of approximately £10.5 billion would not “be fair or proportionate to taxpayers.” Waspi had advocated for payouts of up to £10,000 each for those affected, and the group’s chair has described the decision as an “insult.” Shelley Leggett, 68, a member of Waspi NI, remarked: “To be told we’re not even worthy of [£2,000] is a kick in the teeth”. She further questioned: “How are you supposed to make up six years’ loss of pension?” Ms. Leggett, who is now retired and receiving her state pension, informed BBC News NI that she was “very disappointed in the Labour government,” which had previously “appeared to promise compensation.” “There are women who had to sell their homes or who had left work aged 58 and had to find other jobs,” she added. “We’re taxpayers. We paid for the people in front of us. That’s the system.” Ms. Leggett noted that when Waspi was first established in 2015, around 77,000 women in Northern Ireland were impacted by the pension changes, a figure that has likely increased since then. She also mentioned that thousands of women have since died and “never received a penny.” Alliance MP Sorcha Eastwood characterized the decision as “a cruel betrayal of the millions of women who have already endured financial hardship and emotional distress due to the government’s failure to adequately communicate state pension age changes.” She further stated: “To apologise but then refuse compensation adds insult to injury and shows a blatant disregard for justice.” “These women were denied the information and time needed to plan for their futures,” she concluded. SDLP MP Claire Hanna asserted that the government had failed Waspi women, adding that the decision will “force [them] back to the courts.” She noted that the parliamentary ombudsman’s report had offered the women “some hope” after years of campaigning, and the decision “will have come as a real blow.” “Women consistently carry a disproportionate burden of austerity and that generation in particular fell further behind their male counterparts in wage growth, rates of occupational pensions and financial security in retirement,” she commented. “These factors, plus the finding of maladministration, clearly merited recognition by the current government,” she added. The compensation recommendation originated from a report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman earlier this year, which concluded that the Department for Work and Pensions had not sufficiently communicated the modifications concerning when women could receive the state pension. The government acknowledged a finding of maladministration and issued an apology but stated it could not justify compensation payments. Speaking on Wednesday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves remarked: “I understand that women affected by the changes to the state pension age feel disappointed by this decision, but we looked in full at the ombudsman recommendations and they said that around 90% of women did know that these changes were coming.” She further stated: “And as chancellor, I have to account for every penny of taxpayers’ money spent.” The Waspi campaign highlighted that both Kendall and Reeves had previously acknowledged the “injustice” experienced by these women. Prime Minister Keir Starmer also defended the decision during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, asserting that taxpayers “simply can’t afford the tens of billions of pounds” in payments. He added that “90% of those impacted knew about the changes that were taking place.” Between 1948 and 2010, the state pension age for men, contingent on sufficient National Insurance contributions, was 65. Throughout the same timeframe, women had a lower pension age, able to claim their pension upon reaching 60. Legislation was enacted in 1995 to progressively equalize the regulations for men and women, external, with the goal that by 2020, all individuals would need to wait until their 65th birthday. However, in 2011, this process was expedited when the government advanced its gender equalization target to 2018. The Waspi group was formed in 2015. It states that it does not oppose the gender equalization of the state pension age but contends that its implementation was unjust and that affected women were not adequately informed. By 2020, the state pension age for both men and women had risen to 66.