The Labour government has refused to compensate Waspi women affected by changes to their retirement age, citing affordability concerns. Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall apologized for a delay in informing affected women but defended the decision, stating that a state-funded payout would be unfair to taxpayers.
Sir Keir Starmer has defended a decision not to compensate women affected by changes to their retirement age - saying doing so would 'burden' the taxpayer. The prime minister said he understood the concerns of the Women Against State Pension Inequality - often known as Waspi women - but their demands were not affordable.
He was speaking after Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall issued an apology for a 28-month delay in sending out letters to those born in the 1950s impacted by state pension changes. However, she said she doesn't accept that compensation should be paid. Ms Kendall said the 'great majority of women knew the state pension age was increasing' and that a state-funded pay-out wouldn't be 'fair or value for taxpayers' money''. The announcement was branded a 'day of shame' by the Liberal Democrats, who accused the Labour government of 'turning its back on millions of pension-age women who were wronged'. In the mid-1990s, the government passed a law to raise the retirement age for women over a 10-year period to make it equal with men. The coalition government then sped up the timetable as part of its cost-cutting measures. The Waspi group say millions suffered financially as they were not given sufficient warning to prepare for the later retirement age. Earlier this year, an investigation by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) found that thousands of women may have been adversely impacted by failures to adequately inform people of the change. The watchdog suggested that women should receive compensation of between £1,000 and £2,950 - but the findings were not legally binding. Ms Kendall said paying that would have cost up to £10.5 billion, which is not 'fair or proportionate
Politics Retirement Compensation Waspi Women Labour Government
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