Hampshire WASPI group marks 10 years campaigning for justice

The local group of Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) is part of a national campaign seeking compensation for women born in the 1950s who were not properly informed about changes to their state pension.

To mark 10 years since forming, the North East Hampshire group met to reflect on a decade of fighting for justice and equality, and on the lasting friendships they have formed.

More than 3.6 million women were affected by the government’s maladministration. While the initial anger and frustration may have subsided, the sense of injustice and inequality remains, and this is the motivation behind the women’s continued campaign.

Yvonne  Robinson, who founded the NE Hants/Surrey Borders WASPI group, reflected on the inequality already experienced by women born in the 1950s.

(Image: Emily Roberts)

The 70-year-old worked for a bank but recalls being denied the opportunity to apply for a position on the tills because she had just married.

“It was assumed I would be leaving soon to have babies. That was the excuse that they gave me,” she said, adding: “It was nine years later that I had my first child.”

When her pension age was later moved without warning, she felt further the sense of deep unfairness and discrimination at losing out simply because she is a woman.

Yvonne took redundancy at the bank aged 60, believing that she only had three years until retirement and would find a job to tide her over until then.

However, she then discovered her pension age had been increased to 66. “If I had known I had six years to go until retirement, I would have stayed at the bank and had a much better pension. I would have carried on paying into my pension. But I didn’t have that information when I made the decision,” she explained.

Rosie Stewart from Basingstoke worked as a primary school teacher and thought she would be able to retire at 60 with a pension.

(Image: Emily Roberts)

“I was angry,” she recalls, upon discovering her pension age had been pushed back to 65.

The 71-year-old also faced discrimination in her first job in a bank aged 16, when she was denied a pension simply because she was a woman.  

“As a female, I couldn’t get a pension. I wasn’t allowed to do that. That was the reality of what it was like in the 1970s. I was making the tea, I wasn’t allowed to go on the tills. It was how it was.”

Rosie was forced to sell her home when her retirement plans changed, realising she could no longer afford to stay there.

Sadly, her experience is not isolated, and many WASPI women have suffered similar experiences or worse.

Jacky Fry, 72, from Woolton Hill, said it is this battle for justice and fighting for what’s right that keeps the group motivated.

(Image: Emily Roberts)

The mother-of-two and grandmother-of-three found out about her pension age change through her sister, and wants recognition for the unfairness that WASPI women were not properly informed.

“I wouldn’t say I’m angry. I feel let down,” she said, explaining that women born in the 1950s contributed to the country and were predominantly the ones to raise the next generation.

“You think what the Suffragettes went through – it was terrible how women were let down, and that continues. Anything that helps fight for equality for women is worth it. It raises that flag for the next generation,” she said, adding: “We didn’t get the letters to inform us of the changes. That’s what we’re angry about. It’s about equality and poor administration. There has been no compensation for that. It drags on, and it’s about the fairness of being recognised.”

Penny Waterfield, 72, from Baughurst, is still working after discovering her pension age had changed from 60 to 63 and 11 months. She said: “I thought it was strange six months before that I hadn’t received anything. I chased it up, and they wouldn’t give me a straight answer.”

(Image: Emily Roberts)

The campaign group is now preparing to go to court in December after crowdfunding to take legal action against the government.  Its legal team will present WASPI's case to a senior High Court Judge on December 9 and 10.

Members say the government has ‘betrayed’ them after its decision in December not to compensate affected women, despite a landmark report from parliament’s independent watchdog telling ministers to pay up.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) investigation concluded that parliament should provide “appropriate remedy” for those who had suffered injustice caused by maladministration.

The government apologised for failing to inform women about their state pension age changes, but did not accept there was an injustice and decided not to introduce financial compensation, arguing that this would be neither “fair nor feasible” and “would not represent good value for taxpayers”.

The women hope the government will sit down and talk to WASPI.

Yvonne said: “The government says they can’t afford to pay us, but moving the pension age six years and you look at all the money they have saved. Really giving us compensation is giving us back a tiny bit of what they took from us.”

She added: “The government needs to sit down with WASPI and talk about what we want. It’s about principle now. If it were men, it would have been sorted out years ago.”