Has the equalising of the pension age been a mistake?
THE number of women still working at 65 is at an all-time high (Mail). This is because women no longer get their state pension at 60 and mismanagement by the Government has resulted in many having to find work to survive. This has meant family support is no longer there for young working mums or elderly parents. Well done. The brilliant idea to trim the state pension budget and target women born in the Fifties has resulted in additional state expenditure, and no doubt a loss of votes for the Tories.
SALLY BUTLER, Rustington, W. Sussex. LADiES, we got what we asked for! i was born in the Fifties and paid full national insurance stamp for 45 years. i expected to retire at 60, but following the pension changes to bring harmonisation with men’s retirement age, mine was changed to 62-and-a-half. i requested a pension forecast so i knew what i would get.
Friends with later retirement dates were also given the opportunity to top-up the state pension to give them a better income. We were all well-informed at each stage. Similarly, car insurance for women has now increased to match men’s premiums. State benefits need to be funded and we have no right to bleat about it now that we have what we have been asking for — equality!
DEE THORPE, Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
I FOUND out only 14 months before my 60th birthday
that I would not get my pension until I was 64-anda-half. I never received a letter and would have made different decisions had I known. As a teenager, I entered into a contract with the Government that I would make National Insurance contributions that would entitle me to a pension at 60. This deal has been broken. I feel I have had thousands of pounds stolen from me, and my family has suffered hardship. The Department for Work and Pensions’s complaints procedure has stalled as the independent case examiner has 2,000 complaints for investigation with 575 in the pipeline. I fully support the pension age equalisation, but not the unrealistic acceleration in implementing these changes with little or no notification. PATRICIA COATS, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.