State Pension Age (Women)

Cathy Jamieson Excerpts
Wednesday 11th May 2011

(13 years, 5 months ago)

Westminster Hall
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Teresa Pearce Portrait Teresa Pearce
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I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. I agree. As I said, it is the unexpectedness of the change that is the problem. The women affected have worked all their lives and paid into the system, expecting something in return. They feel that they have done their bit, but they are not getting what they agreed to in the first place.

Cathy Jamieson Portrait Cathy Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab/Co-op)
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Does my hon. Friend agree that the situation is made more difficult because many of the women have been on low incomes and have not been able to make savings in other ways? Although they may have done the right thing and planned, they are now hit by this double whammy.

Teresa Pearce Portrait Teresa Pearce
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I agree. These women have been unable to plan for this change. Already, their pension age was further away than that of the previous generation and now it is being pushed further away again. It seems that the nearer they get, the further away it goes.