By Peter Omopo
The national chair of Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi), Angela Madden, has said the fight for compensation for women affected by changes to the state pension age is not over, as the government continues to review its position on the issue.
Madden is among an estimated 3.6 million women born in the 1950s who campaigners say were not properly informed about increases in the state pension age to bring it in line with that of men. She said she was informed in March 2012—while she was a full-time carer for her mother—that she would not be eligible to receive her state pension for another seven years, rather than the two years she had expected.
Madden said the unexpected delay had a profound impact on her life. She stopped work at the age of 54 to care for her sick mother and said she would have remained in employment had she known she would not receive her pension until 65. She added that returning to work later proved difficult and that many women in similar situations faced severe financial and emotional hardship.
While Madden was supported financially by her husband until she reached pension age, she said others were not as fortunate, with some forced to return to former partners or make drastic living arrangements because they could not afford to live independently.
The increase in the state pension age for women from 60 to 65 was first set out in the Pensions Act 1995, with implementation initially planned over a 10-year period from 2010. However, the 2011 Pensions Act accelerated the changes, leaving some women waiting up to an additional five years for their pension.
Madden said the government at the time failed to adequately communicate the changes, arguing that many affected women were unaware of the implications. Although the government has pointed to leaflets, television adverts and public consultations as evidence of communication, campaigners maintain that the information did not effectively reach those impacted.
After contacting her local MP, Madden helped organise meetings for affected women in Derbyshire, which later grew into a national movement. She went on to establish the Derbyshire branch of Waspi and now serves as its national chair, lobbying MPs and campaigning for redress.
In 2024, a parliamentary ombudsman recommended compensation ranging from £1,000 to £2,950 for each affected woman. The government initially rejected the recommendation but agreed in November to review the decision after it emerged that a key document had not been shown to the then Work and Pensions Secretary, Liz Kendall. A report on the review is expected in February.
A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions said the government had committed to retaking the decision within three months but cautioned that this did not necessarily mean compensation would be awarded.
Madden said the review process has come too late for an estimated 380,000 to 400,000 affected women who have since died, including her sister, Imelda.
As part of ongoing awareness efforts, Waspi campaigners from North Derbyshire have dramatised their experiences in a stage production, later adapted into an audio play titled Stung, now available on the Dramafy platform. Madden said the production has resonated strongly with audiences, underscoring the emotional toll of the pension changes.
She said campaigners remain determined to seek justice, insisting that the issue represents a serious failure by successive governments to protect and properly inform women approaching retirement.
