Pension delay women ‘could be apprentices’

A MINISTER yesterday suggested that millions of older women with delayed pensions should take up apprenticeships so they can work longer.

Guy Opperman said the Government would not alter recent legislation that brought forward changes in the retirement age for women, meaning some would have to wait up to six years for their pensions

In a debate at Westminster Hall, the Pensions Minister said the Government would ‘assist everyone affected into retraining and employment’ and added that they should even consider ‘apprenticeship opportunities’.

Campaigners attending the debate reacted with fury, with one shouting out to call him a ‘disgraceful and shameful man’. And Labour MP Graham Jones raised a point of order to ask: ‘I’m struggling to hear the debate, but did the minister just say that women aged 64 could go on an apprenticeship course?’

Campaign group Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) say those affected by the changes have suffered financial hardship and been required to rethink their retirement plans at relatively short notice.

Grahame Morris, the Labour MP who called the debate, said: ‘As a nation, we owe a debt of honour to the Waspi women who have paid their contributions, who are not looking for apprenticeships at 64, they’re looking for some recognition of their contribution.’