The Waspi women living hand-to-mouth due to pension and benefits double-whammy

Waspi women who could be owed money in their pensions due to an error linked to child benefit claims have called the issue a “catastrophe” that has left them struggling to heat their homes or pay vital bills.

The Treasury admitted last month that more than 210,000 parents who may have been underpaid thousands of pounds on their state pension could be kept waiting up to 18 months to begin receiving arrears.

The issue was highlighted last year by former pensions minister Sir Steve Webb, who explained it mainly affects stay-at-home mothers who made a claim for child benefit between 1978 and 2000.

A person’s state pension entitlement is based on their national insurance record – but in some cases where the person was claiming child benefit, the national insurance credits they should have received were not transferred across properly.

Those affected are expected to be women in their sixties and seventies who took time off work to look after their children, but may not have had their national insurance numbers recorded when they made a claim for child benefit before the year 2000.

Among them are women belonging to the so-called Waspi (Women Against State Pension Inequality) generation born in the 1950s who say they were not properly informed by the government that their state pension age would increase from age 60 to age 65 to be equal with men – it then increased to 66 for both sexes. It left many financially unprepared for their retirement.

Ros Dickens, 62, is one of 3.8 million Waspi women thought to be affected by the age change, and among the 210,000 parents affected by the child benefit issue.

The mother of two previously worked in the Civil Service, before suffering serious health complications as a result of a hysterectomy.

Ms Dickens took just over two years off work while caring for her first son and claimed child benefits, but didn’t include her national insurance number on the claim form.

Following a divorce from her husband, which included an agreement that she wouldn’t have access to his pension, she found herself anxiously awaiting her state pension when she turned 60.

“When I realised I wouldn’t be getting my state pension I was completely devastated,” she told i. “I was in survival mode [while I was ill] and not really aware of the state pension changes.”

“My divorce outcome would have been completely different if I’d realised I wouldn’t be getting my state pension at the age of 60,” Ms Dickens added.

“I’m angry to think that I worked and paid into my state pension all my life – and I did think if a person is ill health retired there should be some way of claiming your state pension earlier.”

Theresa McDonald said the state pension age change ‘really was an utter fiasco’

Ms Dickens is now reliant on Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and her Civil Service pension. However, she is worried about her financial security, which is having a knock-on effect on her mental health.

“My Civil Service pension only amounts to about £250 per month – none of it really adds up when everyone is in a cost of living crisis,” she said.

“I’m afraid to use my heating and my hot water, I only put my hot water on about once a week for an hour. You shouldn’t have to live like this when you’re in your sixties and you have poor health.

“I just think it’s a catastrophe, I think it’s wrong, and both governments – Labour and Conservatives – are guilty of bringing this change in age in underhandedly and not preparing people when they should have.”

Theresa McDonald, a 70 year-old mother who previously ran apprenticeship schemes at Kent County Council, didn’t receive a notification from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that the pension age was changing.

“It was all by word of mouth,” she said. “It really was an utter fiasco”.

“One of my gripes was that one of my friends got her state pension three years before me, because they had this crazy way of working it out. She was 10 months older than me, and she got hers three years before I did.”

She also had to start again after a divorce in her late fifties, and said receiving her state pension at 60 would have made a real difference to her quality of life.

“I had grandchildren by then. I wasn’t on the poverty line – but grannies do things with their grandchildren and I really wanted that. But because it’s the government, you think your hands are tied”.

According to her rough calculations, she has lost out on “roughly £40,000” across five years her pension was delayed, including national insurance payments.

“I’m one of the lucky ones because I wasn’t dependent on getting my pension at 60, and didn’t retire until I was 69.

“But I’ve been to several school reunions where you notice people not showing up, because they’re dead.

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“Some of these women had been working since they were 15 and three months, because that was the magic number back then.

“And they died not having ever received the pension they were entitled to, because they died at 60. Their pensions were never a benefit – they were entitled to it, after working for so long. It’s morally wrong.”

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said it started contacting people who may have been affected by the records discrepancies in September 2023, prioritising those above state pension age and inviting them to check their eligibility and make an application to HMRC for Home Responsibilities Protection.

According to a written statement from Financial Secretary to the Treasury Nigel Huddleston, the process of identifying and contacting the majority of individuals who may have been affected could take 18 months.

In an update of the situation in its 2023 annual report, DWP estimated that 210,000 people were owed money, most of whom are probably mothers, but some of whom may have already died.

In the case of the latter, DWP estimated 43,000 next of kin could be due arrears payments. However, the department added that there remained “considerable uncertainty” in the assumed average arrears amount.

“Most people’s records will be unaffected, and we have an online tool to help people check whether they need to claim. HMRC began writing to those likely to be affected last autumn.

“State pension underpayment rates are very low but where errors do occur, we are committed to fixing them as quickly as possible.”

If you are a parent and are sure that you have contributions missing, you can fill in a CF411 form and submit it to HMRC, while those under state pension age can check their national insurance and state pension forecasts online.

Who qualifies as a Waspi woman?

The term Waspi means women against state pension inequality, and includes those born in the 1950s, or more precisely – according to the definition on the official website – between 6 April, 1950 and 5 April, 1960.

They say they were not properly informed by the government that their state pension age would increase from age 60 to age 65 to be equal with men – it then increased to 66 for both sexes.

Waspi women also argue that the poor communication over the changes left them with insufficient time to prepare for up to six years longer without their pension, and that this caused them lasting financial problems, as well as affecting their health and emotional wellbeing.

For example, a survey released by the group this summer found that nearly one in three women in the Waspi age group had fallen into debt this year.

One of the reasons that the Waspi cause has become prominent is the fact that the state pension age changes affected so many women – around 3.8 million.