WASPI Women May Get Second Chance at Pension Redress

Published: 12 November 2025 | The English Chronicle Desk | The English Chronicle Online

The UK Government will reconsider its decision not to award compensation to women affected by changes to the state pension age, after new evidence has emerged that was not shown to the previous Work and Pensions Secretary.

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden announced that undisclosed evidence from 2007, which was unavailable to his predecessor Liz Kendall when she ruled against payouts, has now come to light. While he stressed that this review does not guarantee compensation, the Government has withdrawn from the judicial review process to examine the new information fairly and transparently.

The controversy involves women born in the 1950s who were not properly informed about the changes to the state pension age, which gradually increased from 60 to 65 to align with men. Campaigners estimate that 3.6 million women were affected and highlight that nearly 394,000 have died since compensation calls began in 2015.

WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality) campaigners have long argued that these women were left unable to plan adequately for retirement. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman recommended payouts of between £1,000 and £2,950 per woman in March 2024. However, the previous Secretary, Ms Kendall, rejected the recommendation, citing a potential £10.5 billion cost to taxpayers, despite apologizing for a 28-month delay in issuing letters to those impacted.

Angela Madden, Chair of WASPI, welcomed the announcement but called for urgency. “For 10 years we have been fighting for compensation. The government have fought us tooth and nail every step of the way. Today’s announcement is a major step forward. The government now knows it got it wrong and we are pleased they are now trying to do it properly. We hope they also try to do it quickly because every 13 minutes a WASPI woman dies. The only correct thing to do is to immediately compensate the 3.6 million WASPI women who have already waited too long for justice.”

Many Labour MPs, including Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves, have publicly supported the WASPI campaign. The party promised some form of compensation in its 2017 and 2019 manifestos under Jeremy Corbyn but did not repeat this pledge in the most recent election-winning manifesto.

While the Government’s review promises a more thorough and transparent assessment of the evidence, campaigners and affected women await clarity on when, or if, compensation payments will finally be made. The announcement represents a potential turning point in a decade-long fight for fairness and recognition of the challenges faced by WASPI women.