Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has carried out an impact assessment on the effect of the change to the state pension age for women born in the 1950s on their families and dependents.

Successive Governments have taken care to give proper consideration to the impact of the proposals made in the Pensions Acts of 1995, 2007 and 2011, which each made changes to the State Pension age that affected women born in the 1950s. The exact form of the assessments has changed over time as the requirements on Government to carry out standardised impact assessments have changed.

The Pensions Act 1995 legislated to equalise men and women’s SPa at 65, over a 10 year period between 2010 and 2020. Standardised impact assessments had not been introduced at the time, but an overview of the options and evidence considered when developing the policy is provided in the 1993 white paper ‘Equality in State Pension age’. (See attached)

The Pensions Act 2007 legislated to introduce a timetable for the increase of SPa to 66, 67 and 68, so that these rises took place by 2026, 2036 and 2046.

The impact assessment for the Pensions Act 2007 can be found here: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20121204130650/http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/pensions-bill-ria.pdf

The Pensions Act 2011 brought forward the equalisation of the male and female State Pension age at 65 by 18 months, so that it takes place by November 2018 rather than April 2020. It also brought forward the increase from 65 to 66 by five and a half years, so that it takes place by October 2020 rather than March 2026.

The impact assessment for the Pensions Act 2011 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/181462/pensions-bill-2011-ia-annexa.pdf