Campaign Collective has been working with the All Party Parliamentary Group on State Pension Inequality for Women (APPG) to launch a consultation aimed at addressing the concerns raised by groups representing 1950s-born women affected by state pension changes.
Many 1950s-born women are worried and suffering financial hardship because of accelerated changes to their State Pension Age, with some forced back to work in their sixties.
The Pensions Act 1995 included plans to increase the State Pension Age for women to 65, in line with men, over a ten-year period, from April 2010 to 2020; but in 2011, the Government speeded up that process.
This meant some women saw their pension age increase from 60 to 66 years in a very short space of time. Many women received either no notification of the change or very late notification, leaving them little time to put alternative plans in place.
The APPG on State Pension Inequality for Women was set up to support the women and raise the profile of the impact these changes have had on them.
The APPG will use the findings of the consultation to inform the Pensions (Review of Women’s Arrangements) Bill.
This Bill will require the Government to establish a formal review of pension arrangements for women affected by changes made by the Pensions Act 1995 and the Pensions Act 2011. It is scheduled for debate on 27th April 2018.
Carolyn Harris MP, Co-Chair of the APPG on State Pension Inequality for Women, said:
The APPG are committed to finding a solution that works for all 1950s women. It is our hope that every eligible group will respond to this consultation, in order to provide us with defined requirements that we can use to influence policy
Nancy Platts, from Campaign Collective, commented:
We are pleased to be working with the APPG to raise the voices of 1950’s-born women by undertaking this consultation on their behalf. Campaign Collective has a strong track record of engaging stakeholders and involving them in the process of finding solutions that will address their concerns. We will be doing everything we can to ensure the different representative groups feed in their views.
How to get involved:
- The password protected survey can be accessed here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/APPGSPIW
- You will need a password to access the consultation. This can be obtained by emailing us at appgwpi@campaigncollective.org
- The consultation closes at 5pm on Friday 22 December