Waspi compensation: What does the government announcement mean for women hit by state pension changes?
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Everything you need to know about the Waspi campaign following work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall’s latest update. The government has announced it will not compensate up to 3.8 million women affected by changes to the state pension age. Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall rejected calls for the individuals to be awarded between £1,000 and £2,950 each, while claiming she understood why many were unhappy about the issue.
![[Waspi campaigners protest in Westminster during Rachel Reeves’ Budget in October]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/17/13/PA-78023844.jpg)
"I know there are women born in the 1950s who want and deserve a better life, they have worked hard in paid jobs and in bringing up their families,” she said. The Labour government is now facing a barrage of criticism from MPs and campaigners over the decision, some of which is coming from within its own party.
![[Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall rejected calls for individuals affected to be compensated]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/17/15/SEI233560658.jpg)
Ms Kendall said the government does not believe paying a flat rate to women at a cost of up to £10.5 billion would be a fair or proportionate use of taxpayers’ money. So what does this mean for the millions of women affected by the changes?. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) released the findings of its five-year investigation on 21 March. It was a damning assessment of the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) handling of the issue.
The Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) group’s claim of the changes being poorly communicated was partly upheld by the PHSO, with the report stating “too many people did not understand their own situations and how the new State Pension affected them personally”.
