I admire the Waspi Women. They represent millions of women, myself included, who, when in their late 50s, suddenly discovered their retirement plans were in complete disarray because of a thoughtless decision by the Coalition Government in 2011 to overturn a previously agreed pension age.
I love their name. The acronym stands for Women Against State Pension Inequality, but Waspi brings to mind the feisty, irritatingly persistent creatures who don’t mind whose picnic they spoil. And there is that sting in the tail…
The 1995 Pensions Act
In 1995 the Pensions Act introduced a number of reforms to the national pension scheme, including a timetable to gradually equalise the pension age of men and women. Changes were to be phased in from 2010 so that by 2020 both men and women would retire at 65. However, in 2011 the Coalition Government rolled back on that phased plan and voted to make 2018 the year that both men and women would retire at 65, and in 2020 the pension age would rise again to 66.
This sudden change of plan had serious implications for 3.5 million women born in the 1950s, whose retirement plans were blown out of the water. Some found themselves having to wait up to six years longer to retire than they had planned for.
The consequence was that they either had to stay in employment longer than intended or were thrown back into a job market where their age made it difficult to find new jobs. Financial consequences have been grave, with women losing their houses and experiencing poverty.
As recently noted by Unison’s equality officer Josie Irwin, it is women in low paid jobs who are worst affected: cleaners, teaching assistants, school administrators, cooks, catering staff, nurses and receptionists. Those women who took time out to care for children and whose pensions are accordingly reduced are of course doubly affected.
What is the Waspi Campaign?
In 2015 the Waspi Campaign was founded by five women with no previous campaigning experience. Importantly, their argument was not against men and women’s retirement age being equalised. Their argument was that the sudden changes introduced in 2018 gave them insufficient warning, thus denying them the opportunity to make substantial changes to their life plans. The changes were also so poorly publicised that many women remained completely in the dark about them.
As the Waspis developed momentum, the campaign recruited lobbyists, researchers and funders, making it the well-organised, vociferous and effective movement of today. Often dressed in the purple so resonant of suffragettes, local groups have spread over the UK and have been campaigning tirelessly ever since.
In 2016, as a petition with over 100,000 signatures was presented to the Government, a key Waspi figure, Mieke Vrijhof, warned that the Government should take note of the “grey power”. And indeed governments since then have been made fully aware of women’s feelings of injustice and its potential as a vote winner. In 2019, Labour pledged to compensate the Waspi women in a package worth £58 bn. In 2024, as election fever spreads, Penny Mordant has been urged to set up a debate in light of an open letter signed by over 230,000 (and counting) women supporting compensation.
Why the sudden Waspi noise?
Although the campaign has been rumbling on for nearly 10 years, it has recently been back in the news. In March, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) revealed the results of an investigation into the women’s claims of injustice. The Ombudsman ruled that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) “failed to provide accurate, adequate and timely information” about the changes.
It stated that some women only received 12 months’ notice of a six-year delay to their pension. As The Guardian reports, the Government failed to write to the affected women for 14 years: “It was not until 2009 to 2013 that the DWP sent people letters about the 1995 Pensions Act and 2011 Pensions Act changes.”
The PHSO has recommended compensating all affected women by between £1000 – £2950. The Waspi campaign has argued that compensation for those worst affected should be in the region of £10,000. The Guardian cites complainants who have calculated their financial loss to be more in the region of £39,000 to £45,000.
So where to now?
There have been some heartening speeches from supportive politicians in Parliament (see @WASPI_Campaign on X for daily briefings), but these have been drowned out by the more negative mealy-mouthed responses to the PHSO’s case for compensation from both the Government and the Labour Party. Indeed, in one of my gloomy ‘has anything changed for us women?’ moments, their responses reminded me of the 1970s See Red poster which featured in a recent Women in Revolt exhibition at the Tate:
However, as Milke Vrijhof said back in 2016 – and we have all experienced to be true when a government-favoured issue arises:-
“The Government has always said there’s no money. There is always money. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
The wily Waspis have a weapon: 2024 is an election year. A spokeswoman told reporters:
“We are now looking to those who have supported us over the years to put their money where their mouth is…Waspi women (are) watching and waiting to see how they should best use their votes in the coming election.”
Will politicians be stung into action?
