Blanket compensation for Waspi women isn’t justice—It’s a bill for the next generation

18 December 2024, 14:49 | Updated: 18 December 2024, 14:53

I have a great deal of sympathy for the women affected by changes to the state pension age, many feel blindsided by reforms that weren’t effectively communicated.

But while their frustration is understandable, the underlying principle of state pension equality between genders is undeniably correct - and this was legislated on nearly 30 years ago.

Compensating the WASPI women comes with a staggering price tag, one that today’s workforce would be left to pay. These are the same people already grappling with the reality of working longer to secure their own retirement.

This isn’t just a matter of gender equality; it’s a test of intergenerational fairness. Saddling younger workers with the bill for blanket compensation risks fuelling further resentment and shaking the very foundations of trust in our pension system.

Labour’s position on this issue has also been misrepresented. Yes, the party supported compensation in 2019, but that was then. By the 2024 election, the pledge had been dropped - before the campaign, not afterwards.

It wasn’t a betrayal; it was a recognition that public finances are strained and priorities must shift. Any suggestion that this was a post-election “con” is simply incorrect.

The loudest critics of the government’s decision, however, come from a party with a rather selective memory. The Liberal Democrats, who now decry the lack of compensation, were in government when the pension age changes were accelerated in 2011.

They were part of a government that defended these decisions at the time, fully aware of their implications. If they were in power today, they’d almost certainly be defending this policy with the same conviction they now feign in opposing it.

The WASPI women deserve empathy, and efforts should be made to ensure such communication failures never happen again. Any of them experiencing real hardship deserve support, regardless of criticisms that have been insensitively levied at them about financial planning. This is different to blanket compensation.

Tough decisions are rarely popular, but fairness must come first - not just for today’s workforce but for future generations. On this issue, the government has made the right call.

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Dom Trendall is a trade unionist with a professional background in public policy.

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