Sadie-Michaela Harris, Excluded Scotland Community Manager, attended and spoke at the Holyrood Scottish Government CPPG for WASPI / 50s women today representing the WASPI ladies in Scotland who were also Excluded.
In brief –
As some of you are aware many of these women have been impacted twice by government acts of discrimination. Firstly in respect of their pensions and secondly by being excluded from any meaningful financial support during the pandemic. Their stories are heart-breaking.
They are still fighting for justice despite a ruling which confirms they were victims of maladministration.
They too are trying to have their injustice redressed and are seeking all parties to add their redress to political manifesto. They too have been asked the cost of redress, they too have put forward proposals which have not need taken up.
Many, have died during this fight for justice apparently at the rate of one every 13 minutes.
It is abundantly clear Tories really can’t be trusted in any shape or form. We fight on..
A Full Explanation of the Women Against State Pension Injustice Campaign
The 1995 Conservative Government’s State Pension Act introduced plans to gradually increase the state pension age for women from 60 to 65 to align with that of men. While WASPI supports the principle of equalisation, the group strongly opposes the manner in which these changes were executed.
Due to the implementation process, women born between 6th April 1950 and 5th April 1960—approximately 3.8 million individuals—have faced severe hardship. Many feel that they have been unfairly and unequally impacted simply because of their birth date. Significant alterations to their state pension age were introduced with inadequate communication, minimal notice, and at a much faster pace than originally outlined. Some women have even faced multiple increases.
As a consequence, hundreds of thousands are now experiencing financial strain, having been left with insufficient time to adjust their retirement plans. Many women express disbelief that their retirement age has been extended by four, five, or even six years without their prior knowledge.
With limited alternative income sources—particularly as many women were previously excluded from company pension schemes until the 1990s—securing stable employment has proven extremely challenging. For many, zero-hours contracts and Job Seeker’s Allowance remain the only available options.
How Have 1950s Women Been Treated Unfairly and Unequally?
Women born in the 1950s have faced disproportionate disadvantage due to the way in which state pension age increases were implemented. Through extensive research, including Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, WASPI has uncovered the following issues:-
Failure to Provide Adequate Notice
– The Turner Commission recommended a minimum of 15 years’ notice, while Saga suggested 10 years. However, many women report receiving little to no official communication about the changes.
– Many were not directly informed about the first set of changes introduced in 1995.
– In 2011, further increases were enacted at an accelerated rate, contrary to prior commitments made by the Coalition government, again with insufficient notice to allow for financial re-planning.
– The impact of these changes has been disproportionately severe: a difference of just one year in birthdate can result in nearly three additional years of waiting for a state pension.
Delayed and Inadequate Communication
– Official letters notifying women born between 6 April 1951 and 5 April 1953 about the 1995 pension reforms were only sent out 14 years later.
– Many women only received their notification within one year (at age 59) of their previously expected state pension age of 60, while others received as little as two to five years’ notice.
– Some women were given as little as a year’s notice for a pension age increase of up to six years, whereas men were given six years’ notice for a one-year increase.
– A significant number of affected women report never receiving any letter at all.
– Other women claim that letters were sent to incorrect addresses despite updating their details with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Impact on Employment and Financial Stability
WASPI has gathered numerous personal testimonies illustrating the devastating effects of these changes:
– The job market is not accommodating to older women, forcing many into unstable, low-paid, or zero-hours contracts.
– Women are being pushed into employment unsuitable for their physical health.
– Some must undergo humiliating Job Seeker’s Allowance assessments under providers like Seetec, or risk losing benefits.
– Others find themselves compelled to accept work that ultimately leaves them in a worse financial position.
– Irrevocable financial decisions—such as early retirement or redundancy—were made based on expectations of retiring at 60, leaving many in dire straits.
– Many women have lost their financial independence, becoming reliant on spouses or partners.
– Those providing care for elderly relatives or dealing with their own health issues find themselves unable to work.
– Plans for retirement with family members have been abruptly disrupted.
– Women who had responsibly planned and saved for retirement now find their savings rapidly depleting, with the state pension as their only remaining source of income.
Excluded WASPIs
The same group of women faced further financial hardship during the Covid-19 pandemic, as many were excluded from government support schemes for a variety of reasons, including:
– Being newly self-employed
– Earning less than 50% of their income from self-employment
– Having trading profits exceeding ÂŁ50,000
– Working as PAYE freelancers
– Being new starters in employment
– Redundancy before 19 March 2020
– Being denied furlough
– Being company directors paid through PAYE annually
– Being company directors paid through dividends
– Owning businesses that were not profitable
– Running businesses that did not qualify for government grants
– Being on maternity, parental, or adoption leave
– Personal circumstances affecting entitlement to financial support, including pensions, bereavement allowance, carer’s allowance, and student status
These compounding issues have left many 1950s-born women in severe financial distress, highlighting the urgent need for fair compensation and recognition of the injustice they have faced.
