Despite the government currently reconsidering its stance on Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) payouts for the estimated 3.6 million British women affected by the pension scandal, the Waspi chair has said the fight “is not over”.
After once reaching the decision to reject offering compensation to women not properly informed about the state pension age hikes, the government reconsidered their stance and a report on the matter is due to be issued in February.
In 2024, a parliamentary ombudsman recommended women not properly informed of the changes should be offered compensation of between £1,000 and £2,950 for each of those affected.
(Image credit: WASPI Campaign)
The consequences remain far-reaching for some of the living. Speaking to BBC News, Angela shares, “Some women I know have had to move back in with husbands they chose to leave, because they couldn’t afford to live on their own. It’s a whole emotional thing.”
Speaking about how she herself wasn’t aware of the changes to women’s pensions to bring them more in line with men’s, Angela says, “Apparently there were leaflets about it,” adding, “But they were mainly in Benefits Offices and of course having never been unemployed I didn’t frequent Benefits Offices.”
In conversation with ITV, Mrs Madden says, “I expected to retire in June 2014 on my 60th birthday. In March 2012, I got a letter saying I wasn’t going to retire until 2020.
“The injustice it caused deserves compensation,” she adds, continuing, “Women are the child bearers in this society, they’re the carers.
“We are often called the sandwich generation because we help our children look after their children and we’re also looking after elderly relatives.
“We saved the state a fortune by looking after our own rather than having to have them looked after by the state and that’s not recognised at all.”
Poignantly, Angela Madden concludes, “We still can’t believe that the government who is supposed to work on our behalf, neglected us so badly.”
