Government Rejects Waspi Women Compensation Bid Again After Review
The government has restated its rejection of the campaign from women who claimed they were owed billions after their state pension age was changed, following a recent review. The Women Against State Pensions Inequality (Waspi) campaign will not receive the compensation they have long sought, with the government upholding its previous decision from December 2024.
Review Confirms Earlier Decision
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden announced in the House of Commons that after the review, the government has come to the same conclusion on compensation as announced in December 2024. The review, initiated in November 2025, focused specifically on how the decision to change the state pension age was communicated, rather than the policy itself.
Mr McFadden stated: "There are legitimate and sincerely held views about whether it was wise to increase the state pension age, in particular, whether the decision taken in 2011 by the coalition government to accelerate equalisation and the rise to the age of 66 was the right thing to do or not." However, he emphasised that the review was about "how changes to the state pension age were communicated", not the policy's merits.
Apology for Communication Delays
The minister offered an apology on behalf of the government, acknowledging that individual letters about changes to the state pension age could have been sent earlier. He said: "For this, I want to repeat the apology on behalf of the government. And I am sorry that those letters were not sent sooner." This apology echoes one made previously by former work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall.
Despite this admission, the government maintains that women did not suffer any direct financial loss from the delay in communication, agreeing with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's findings. The Waspi argument centres on the claim that the change was implemented too quickly, leaving many women financially unprepared for the years when they could no longer claim their state pension.
Background and Impact
The changes to the state pension age were first announced in the 1995 Pensions Act, with a target to equalise male and female pensions by 2020. In 2011, this timeline was accelerated to 2018. Around 3.6 million women were affected by this change, specifically those born between April 1951 and 1960.
The government has previously estimated that compensating these women could cost approximately £10.5 billion. In 2024, the government stated that most women were aware of the impending changes, leading to the initial rejection of compensation claims before the review was announced in late 2025.
The Waspi campaign has lobbied extensively, arguing that they were not given sufficient warning of the state pension age for women being lifted from 60 to 65 to align with men. This latest decision marks another setback in their long-running fight for financial redress.
