Women across the north of England are travelling to London today (Wednesday) to lobby MPs against changes to the state pension age that left many out of pocket when the government made pension age 65 for both men and women.
The changes introduced in 1995 affected approximately 2.6m women now in their late 50s and early to mid 60s, who had barely any notice they were going to have to work for longer before getting their pension.
The women say that had they been told about the changes at the time, they could have made alternative pension arrangements. Unfortunately the government didn’t inform them until 2009, some 14 years later.
UNISON Northern region women’s officer Natasha Nicholson said: “Too many women are having to make sacrifices in their retirement because of the unfair way the government forced through changes to their pensions.
“In the North more than 10,000 women in work, and over 2,000 who have now retired, are either about to or are already having to cope with significant financial losses, and little notice to prepare for their future.
“It is totally unacceptable that these women are heading for hardship in their retirement because of the government’s mismanagement of the state pension change. MPs should listen to the women coming to see them in Westminster and support their campaign for a temporary state pension to bridge the gap.”
