State Pension: Women born in the 1950s
Debate between Alex Burghart and Martin Whitfield(6 years ago)
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Alex Burghart
I appreciate the hon. Lady’s point, which I am coming to.
The Pensions Act 2011 sped up the equalisation of women’s state pension age and required men and women’s state pension age to be raised to 66 by 2020. During the passage of that Act, the Government spent £1.1 billion—we might dispute the amount—on capping the maximum increase that any woman would see in her state pension age at 18 months, relative to the timetable set out in the Pensions Act 1995. Having heard the stories and spoken to some of the women involved, I know that this has been a hard transition and has caused difficulties and distress for many of them.
Martin Whitfield (East Lothian) (Lab)
On the point of equalisation, will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Martin Whitfield
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way. He has given his analysis of the equalisation, but does he find it ironic that the women who were told that they had to work for an additional 18 months were given only five years to sort out that problem, but the men who were asked to work an additional 12 months were given seven years to plan for that change?
Alex Burghart
The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. Having spoken to women in my constituency, I understand the stress and difficulty that this change has caused. However, is clear that any attempt to reverse the policy would be extraordinarily expensive.