Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is taking steps to provide support to women who have been affected by changes in the state pension age.

The Government decided over 25 years ago that it was going to make the State Pension age the same for men and women. Had the State Pension age not been equalised, women who would be retiring today upon reaching the age of 60, would be expected to spend (on average) over 40% of their adult lives in receipt of State Pension.

The Government is providing over £20m for a new enhanced offer through our 50+ Choices programme to support people aged 50 and over to remain in and return to work.

We are also committed to providing a financial safety net for those who need it, including when they near or reach retirement through the welfare benefits system

In addition, the Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and is taking action to help. To ensure stability and certainty for households, in the Autumn Statement the Government has announced £26bn in cost of living support for 2023/24. This includes Cost of Living Payments for the most vulnerable households, an additional £1 billion, including Barnett impact, to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England in the next financial year. In England this will be delivered through an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £842 million and the amended Energy Price Guarantee which will save the average UK household £500 in 2023-24.

The Government's Energy Price Guarantee will save a typical British household around £900 this winter, based on what energy prices would have been under the current price cap - reducing bills by roughly a third. This is in addition to the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.

Pensioners who are entitled to a Winter Fuel Payment for winter 2022 to 2023, have received an extra payment of £300 per household paid with their normal payment. We estimate around 8.7 million pensioner households across the UK have received an increased Winter Fuel Payment. Households with someone of State Pension age received £500 and households with someone aged 80 or over received £600.

This increased Winter Fuel Payment has been paid on top of any other one-off support a pensioner household is entitled to, for example where they are on Pension Credit or receive eligible disability benefits. The Government committed at the Autumn Statement on 17 November 2022 to a further pensioner cost of living payment of £300 per household to be paid in winter 2023/24.