Pension age rose as I was planning my retirement do
CAMPAIGNER HAD TO RELY ON FOOD BANKS AFTER DEATH OF HER HUSBAND
A BURTON widow found out through Facebook that the pension age had gone up – just as she was preparing her retirement party.
May Low was even left relying on food banks after the death of her husband after she spent six years without her pension because the age at which she could receive it had been increased without notification.
More than three million women born in the 1950s have been affected by the issue and were forced to stay in work or fell into poverty, spending their life savings.
Among them was Mrs Low, who was just turning 60 and was preparing to retire from her job as a family support worker.
She said: “Two days before my 60th birthday I was buying banners and balloons for my party, and the shop assistant asked ‘have you heard the pension age is rising?’ Well I was stunned. I went and found out through a Facebook group who was in the know.”
She joined WASPI (Women Against State Pension Injustice) and attended their first rally at Westminster to protest over the issue.
Since then Mrs Low has been campaigning for women who were due to retire when they were 60, and has even set up the Burton and Uttoxeter branch of WASPI.
She said: “Sadly, two years ago I lost my wonderful husband Peter. I then truly felt what it was like to be a 1950s woman with nothing. Before, I had Peter supporting me. For almost three months I had food parcels and friends and family and, of course, other 1950s women’s help. How embarrassing but humbling at the same time.”
Now she has reached her 66th birthday and can now finally receive her pension, Mrs Low has vowed to keep on campaigning for the many women who have yet to receive their pension.
In 1995 the Government introduced a gradual increase of the State Pension age from 60 to 65 for women but did not notify them. Some women were written to in 2009, 14 years after the first change, but letters then stopped until 2011.
Many women received no notice at all. Those who did get letters had very little time to prepare for such a major change to their retirement plans.
A total of 4,250 women in Burton and Uttoxeter - including Mrs Low were affected by this decision. There has been recent success after the Parliamentary & Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) announced last year that it “has found failings in the way the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) communicated changes to women’s State Pension age”.
The Ombudsman received a significant number of complaints about the way this was communicated by the DWP.
Many women said they were not aware of the changes, and experienced significant financial loss and emotional distress as a result.
PHSO has found that from 2005 onwards, there were failings in the action taken by DWP to communicate the State Pension age.
The DWP said the Government decided to equalise the State Pension age for men and women more than 25 years ago, as a move towards gender equality. It said the High Court and Court of Appeal found it acted lawfully.
WASPI is battling to win compensation for 3.5 million women affected by the increase in state pension age.
State pension age is currently 66 for both men and women but will start gradually increasing again from May 2026. At the age of 66, Mrs Low is celebrating her first pension payment and has now laid a wreath in memory of the women born in the 1950s who did not survive to reach the pension age.
She said: “It was an honour [to lay it] like it has been every year for the last five. However it seemed more special this time as it was six years to the day I started campaigning and set up the Burton and Uttoxeter WASPI group. I also received my first state pension - six years after I was promised.
“Now the Ombudsman has said maladministration was found against 1950 women, we are waiting for a second stage which we hope is sooner than later.
“When I bought ribbon for the wreath the figures of 1950 women who had passed stood at 220,000 but goes up daily. It is shocking that this is happening. I am scared many more may pass before this is settled. We have to keep the fight for justice of the 1950 women going until justice is done.”