MSE News: Pension minister vows 'no concessions' for WASPI

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Women battling against increases in the state pension age have been told they won't succeed in forcing a compromise...

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'Pension minister vows 'no concessions' for WASPI - so is this the end of the road?'

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GibbsRule_No3

Not surprised.

colsten

About time a decisive position was taken by the new Government

BLB53

There could be no other outcome - good to hear it is now settled and everyone can move on (hopefully).

colsten

I was just told there is a detailed letter from the DWP to a WASPI lady, who had written to Theresa May, making the rounds on Twitter: https://twitter.com/suzallii/status/777946162888335360

dunstonh

Good to see the Government closing the door on this sham of a campaign.

Malthusian

This will no doubt be hailed as another terrific victory for WASPI Classic on the grounds that they have again succeeded in "raising awareness", viz their utter and total defeat being widely reported in the national press.

atush

Good, can we now close the long running thread to new comments?

Paul_Herring

What's this?

The government has been changing the pension age for some people?

Why have I never heard about this before?

I would have thought the government would have sent me a personalised letter about it, delivered by a royal courtier no less!

I really must go on the internet and express my astonishment, and create a few petitions about it...

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More seriously, not sure why we need another open thread about this. It'll only be rehashings of stuff previously said in the other threads.

jamesd

Excellent news from the [STRIKE]government[/STRIKE] DWP!

Of course no surprise that the WASPI 2 and perhaps the WASPI 3 will continue to seek a return to the previous level of gender discrimination in the state pension system with the WASPI 2 £77 billion plus cost for men goal that would be paid for by other state pensioners and benefits recipients.

Just in case anyone missed it, the WASPI 2 want a payment made so that women would get payments just as if their state pension had started at age 60, an age that was wrong from 20 years ago. Regardless of financial need. No means testing at all so even a millionaire would get it. All affected women are already entitled to whatever means tested benefits they are eligible for under the rest of the benefits system so those in actual financial need are already protected just like the rest of us of working age. There was already a big reduction in the more recent increase made while the bill was going through Parliament that cost more than a billion Pounds in extra spending from the benefits budget.

It is a bit of a shame that MSE seems to have contacted the no compromise, we want maximum gender inequality WASPI 2 instead of the find a compromise that helps those in financial need WASPI 3 though. The WASPI 3 might actually get something useful for men and women in financial difficulties as a result of the increases if the WASPI 2's outrageous demand wasn't getting so much of the attention. For anyone who missed that, the WASPI 2 changed the account passwords then threw out the other 3 founders for being willing to find a compromise.

atush wrote: »

Good, can we now close the long running thread to new comments?

Those who want the money would just start a new one, without the already extensive countering discussion of why it's a bad move in the existing ones.

jamesd

Here is the text of the reply from the DWP:

"Thank you for your email of 28 July to the Prime Minister about women's State Pension age. Government Ministers receive a large volume of correspondence and they are unable to reply personally on every occasion. Your email has been forwarded to this Department and I have been asked to respond.

I should firstly clarify that the State Pension is technically and legally a social security benefit created by an Act of parliament. Specifically it is a contributory benefit, the payment of which is dependent on satisfying certain conditions, including satisfying the national Insurance contribution condition and reaching the age of eligibility as defined in legislation. This age can be amended at any time through primary legislation, which is what the Pension Acts 1996, 2007, 2011 and 2014 did.

There is no legal contract for the pension between the State and an individual, as alluded to in your email, such as exists between an employer and employee or a shop and its customer. The Government is not obliged to consult individuals' approval to increase their State Pension age. However, this does not mean the Government does not take a serious and considered approach to adjusting State Pension age. The Government ran a public consultation on increasing the State Pension age to 66, and parliament fully approved the final proposals and made them law in November 2011.

You may also find it helpful to know that the National Insurance scheme is financed on a 'pay-as-you-go' basis, which means that the rates and levels of contributions are set each year to ensure that the overall income to the National Insurance Fund is enough to pay for the full range of contributory benefits. Although an individual's contributions provide a foundation for calculating entitlement to future personal entitlements, the contributions do not actually pay for those entitlements but for the current entitlements paid in that year.

The gradual equalisation of State Pension age at 65 for both men and women was first set out in the Pensions Act 1995 (and the increase to 66 set out in the Pensions Act 2007) following the Government's obligations under a directive from the European Union on gender discrimination. Rather than simply increase State Pension age overnight, rises were introduced incrementally by various governments - Conservative, Labour and the Coalition Government.

People living healthier, longer lives, however, also meant that the Coalition government could not ignore the pressure that this placed on the State Pension system and, in 2011, brought about State Pension age equalisation and the rise to 66 sooner. Out European counterparts such as German, Denmark, and Greece have already equalised State Pension age for men and women - much earlier than us.

Rather than simply increase State Pension age overnight, rises are introduced incrementally over a set period. This arrangement is in place to try and avoid 'cliff edges', which would mean that people born within a few weeks of each other have significantly different State Pension ages.*

People have been grouped by date of birth, with those born between the 6th of one month and the fifth of the following month eligible for State Pension on the same date. Under the original 1996 timetable, each group would reach State Pension age one month later (on average) than the previous group, until 65 was reached.

To allow women's State pension age to increase more quickly to 65 between April 2016 and November 2018, this phasing was changed, with each group reaching State Pension age four months later (on average) than the previous group.

For the rise to 66, people have been grouped by date of birth, with those born between the 6th of one month and the 5th of the following month eligible for State Pension on the same date. Each group reaches State Pension age one month later (on average) than the previous group, until age 66 is reached.

Following the 2011 Pensions Act, the Department for Work and Pension wrote to all those directly affected to inform them of the change to their State Pension age, using the address details recorder by Her majesty's revenue and Customs at the time. Mailing to these individuals, who are due to reach State pension age between 2016 and 2026, was completed between January 2012 and November 2013, subject to the accuracy of their address details.

Prior to the direct mail campaign, the Department had conducted wider pensions awareness campaigns between 2001 and 2004, which included information on equalisation. For example, an advertorial specifically about the equalisation of State Pension age was featured in women's magazines and national newspaper supplements. This Department also makes information on State Pension age changes and who they affect available via the Pension Service on Gov.uk, including the option to calculate State Pension age.

The Government have also legislated for a regular review of State Pension age, the fist of which will conclude next year and take into account the latest life expectancy data. Independent analysis by the Institute for Fiscal studies has shown us that the rise in women's State Pension age has been accompanied by increased employment for the women in this group.

Even after equalising women's State Pension age with men's, women will spend on average around two years more in receipt of their State Pension because of their longer life expectancy. Women reaching 65 in 2018 are expected to live until 88.9 years whilst the figure for men is 86.7 years. Crucially, the equalisation of State Pension age brought the average proportion of time spent in retirement by men and women more in line with one another, with women spending slightly longer in retirement due to a higher life expectancy. Without equalisation, women would spend on average 41 per cent of their adult lives in retirement, compared to men at 31 per cent.

It should be noted that estimates provided to the Work and Pensions Select Committee in February showed that the costs of undoing current legislation for women are greater than £77 billion up to 2020/21, and that costs would continue to build after that point.

It is also important to point out that women who have had their State Pension age increased will have the same eligibility to working-age in work, out of work and disability benefits as a man with the same date of birth. Those who are not in work can make initial enquiries about what support may be available to them by calling the Department's claim line on 0800 055 6688, or by checking the information on claiming benefits on the Government website at https://www.gov.uk.

In addition, the Government has reformed the State Pension system to make clearer what people can expect from the State when they retire.

From April this year, the Government introduced a simpler State pension that will give people a clear picture of what the State will provide so that they can build their own savings. The new State Pension will let people know exactly how much they earn for each qualifying year and, furthermore, it will be above the level of the basic means test in Pension Credit, helping to support private saving and, will give 650,000 women reaching State Pension age, in the first ten years, an increase on average of £416 a year due to the new State Pension valuation.

Automatic enrolment will also complement the new State Pension by helping to ensure that as many people as possible can build a private pension on top of the amount they receive from the State. This will give around 10 million people the opportunity to save into a workplace pension and we expect this to lead to 9 million people newly saving or saving more.

The combination of the new State Pension, automatic enrolment, the protection of benefits and giving people power over their pension pots will ensure pensioners and future pensioners have security in retirement whilst making pensions sustainable for decades to come.

I hope this reply is useful in explaining the position on recent changes to the State Pension.

x redacted by me x
Ministerial Correspondence Team"

*actually people of the same gender. The gradually reducing five year cliff-edge difference between men and women of the same birth date remains for a few years still.