WASPI women issued 'both distressing and tragic' update over DWP compensation

A state pension warning has been issued - as 300,000 women die waiting for compensation. WASPI women have patiently waited for Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) compensation payouts worth as much as £2,950.

But more than 300,000 women born in the 1950s have died whilst waiting. Data from the Office for National Statistics commissioned by Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi), shows that one affected woman dies every 13 minutes.

Angela Madden, WASPI chair, fumed: "It is both distressing and tragic that after nine long years of campaigning, 300,000 Waspi women have died without seeing the justice they are due." She warned ministers that "time is running out" to fairly compensate those who remain.

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UNISON's Head of Equality Josie Irwin called the situation a "pensions shambles" that left retirement plans in tatters. "It's a tragedy so many women have died without receiving the payments they were due," she said.

"Many of them were low-paid cleaners, teaching assistants, school administrators, cooks, catering staff, nurses and receptionists." She urged ministers to "find a way to resolve this desperately unfair situation".

The Labour Party, under Jeremy Corbyn, promised to spend £58bn compensating the Waspi women (named after their campaign group, Women Against State Pension Inequality). The ombudsman’s more modest proposal is costed at between £3.5bn and £10.5bn.

The report acknowledges that the entire cohort of around 3.8 million women wasn’t harmed. Women complained that they lost out financially because DWP did not communicate well enough how many National Insurance qualifying years they needed for a full State Pension.

They told us the way DWP and ICE handled their complaints caused them stress and anxiety. Research showed too many people did not understand their own situations and how the new State Pension affected them personally.

The Work and Pensions Committee and the National Audit Office, as well as research that DWP commissioned, highlighted this gap between awareness and understanding.