Waspi women have raised more than £122,000 to take the Government to court over its decision to refuse compensation to millions of women who lost out financially from a rise in the state pension age.
Campaigners threatened to take legal action against the Labour government unless it reconsiders and launched a CrowdJustice campaign to fund it.
Although the fundraiser initially set a goal of £75,000, it has already surpassed this as more than £100,000 was raised in 24 hours. The total on Friday afternoon was more than £123,000, with 24 days of fundraising still to go.
As the initial target has now been exceeded, it has been extended to a stretch target of £180,000. More than 7,000 donations have been made.
In December, the Government said it would not be compensating millions of women born in the 1950s – known as Waspi women (Women Against State Pension Inequality) – who say they were not given sufficient warning of the state pension age for women being lifted from 60 to 65 and then 66.
In March 2024, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) ruled that women affected by the changes are owed compensation from the Government because the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) failed to adequately inform them about the changes.
However, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the Government could not “justify paying for a £10.5bn compensation scheme at the expense of the taxpayer”.
Angela Madden, chair of Waspi, told The i Paper that the outpouring of support for the fundraiser shows the resolve among those affected.
“Thousands of Waspi women across the country have come together and donated to show their determination to fight on for justice,” she said.
“More than £100,000 was raised in the first 24 hours of the fundraising campaign which demonstrates the sheer levels of public anger about the Government’s position. We are not going away.
“We have a Government which on one hand accepts that 1950s-born women are victims of maladministration, while on the other says we have not suffered any injustice.
“We cannot let that go unchallenged for the irrational reasons they have used.
“All donations go directly to lawyers to fund the legal challenge to the Government. The ball is now in the Government’s court to respond.”
Sarah Johnson, 68, who lives in Northampton, is one of the 3.8m affected Waspi women. She told The i Paper she is fully in support of the campaign taking legal action, but will only be able to afford to donate a small amount herself as she is struggling financially.
Ms Johnson, who has two daughters, five grandchildren and a great-grandchild, says she suffered financial hardship due to the six-year delay in receiving her state pension and it meant she had to carry on working despite suffering from long term health conditions.
“I worked as a vision impairment support assistant in schools, but I suffered from chronic migraine syndrome and had to work with this throughout my 50s and 60s and stress made it worse,” she explained.
“I also suffer from asthma and my mental health with anxiety and going back to work after the pandemic was the final straw for me as I was so scared.”
Ms Johnson says she went on long term sickness for a year at the age of 64. From age 65 until she finally received her state pension at 66, she had no income. “That year from the age of 65 to 66 was the worst,” she recalled. “I had left work due to illness and had to live on my savings. This money has now almost dwindled away.”
Although she is now receiving her state pension and a small private pension, Ms Johnson says this takes her just over the threshold for Pension Credit, which means she isn’t eligible for other financial support, such as the winter fuel allowance.
She is angered by Labour’s refusal to pay compensation to Waspi women despite the findings of the ombudsman and believes the watchdog’s decision should be legally binding. “This has gone on far too long,” she said. “The ombudsman made the decision that we have been treated unfairly and are due compensation, so the Government should pay up.
“In a world where women are routinely discriminated against, it makes it look as though we don’t matter.
“Financially, things are very tough for me and having my state pension when I expected to get it would have made things much easier. I feel robbed.”
Ms Johnson believes it is important everyone gets behind the fundraiser and campaign as she feels ignoring the findings of an ombudsman “sets a precedent”.
“I was a single parent and brought up my two daughters and by the time I found out my state pension age had changed, it was too late for me to plan or do anything about it. There was absolutely nothing I could do to increase my income because of my ill health.
“The huge amount of money raised for the fundraiser for legal action in such a short space of time shows the strength of feeling. We are determined to fight this all the way.”
A letter before action has been sent to the Government. This is a formal mechanism to allow it a chance to respond before campaigners seek a judicial review at the High Court. The Government has 14 days to respond before the case is filed.
However, a number of legal experts told The i Paper that Waspi women are unlikely to win a legal case against the Government over a lack of compensation.
One lawyer stated that to succeed in a judicial review, campaigners will need to prove that the Government’s decision was unreasonable.
Even with the Government’s admission of maladministration and an apology for delays, he said this will likely be outweighed by the financial burden on taxpayers.
But Waspi lawyers argue that the Government’s reasons for rejecting the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s recommendation to compensate women are in breach of legal principles.
A Government spokesperson said: “We accept the ombudsman’s finding of maladministration and have apologised for there being a 28-month delay in writing to 1950s-born women.
“However, evidence showed only one in four people remember reading and receiving letters that they weren’t expecting and that by 2006 90 per cent of 1950s-born women knew that the state pension age was changing.
“Earlier letters wouldn’t have affected this. For these and other reasons the Government cannot justify paying for a £10.5bn compensation scheme at the expense of the taxpayer.”
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