Getty Images
Campaigners have reacted with fury to the government's “unjustified” rejection of compensation for women affected by the pension age change.
According to them, 3.6 million women born in the 1950s were not correctly informed of the increase in the retirement age planned by the State to bring them closer to that of men.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall apologized for the delay in sending the letters, but rejected any kind of financial payment.
Nine months ago, a parliamentary ombudsman recommended compensation of between £1,000 and £2,950 for each of those affected.
The Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) campaign called the government's decision an “insult”.
“The government has today made an unprecedented policy choice by ignoring the clear recommendations of an independent monitoring body,” said Angela Madden, who chairs the campaign group.
“This is a bizarre and completely unjustified decision which will leave everyone wondering what is the point of an ombudsman if ministers can simply ignore their decisions.”
The Waspi campaign had asked for payments of at least £10,000 each.
But Kendall said there was evidence of “considerable awareness” of changes to the retirement age.
She also said there was no evidence of “direct financial loss” resulting from the government's decision.
“Given that the vast majority of women knew the pension age was increasing, the Government does not believe that paying all women a flat rate at a cost of up to £10.5 billion would be fair or proportionate to taxpayers,” she said.
How the saga unfolded
The age at which people receive the state pension is increasing as people live longer and currently stands at 66 for both men and women.
But for decades, men received their state pension at 65 and women at 60.
Under the Pensions Act 1995, a timetable was established to equalize the age at which men and women can receive their state pension. The plan was to raise the eligibility age for women to 65 and introduce this change gradually from 2010 to 2020.
But the 2010 coalition government decided to speed up this process. Under the Pensions Act 2011, the new entry age of 65 for women was brought forward to 2018.
The increases have been controversial. Campaigners say women born in the 1950s were treated unfairly because of the rapid changes and the way they were communicated to those affected.
Thousands of people said they did not know they would have to wait longer to receive their state pension and had suffered financial and emotional distress as a result.
