The Waspi group – Women Against State Pension Inequality – fights for the 3.8 million women born in the 1950s who found themselves having to work for longer than they expected before hitting retirement age.
It is claimed they were not given sufficient warning of the controversial decision to increase women’s retirement age from 60 to 65, and then to 66 in 2020.
Thousands had just 12 months’ notice of a six-year delay to their retirement.
Some have already died without receiving a penny in state pension, despite making years of National Insurance contributions.
Data commissioned by the campaign group and released exclusively to the Sunday Express reveals that over the next 12 months, it is predicted that 38,657 women who were born in the 1950s will die.
Angela Madden, chairwoman of Waspi, said: “These death statistics are a stark reminder that time is running out for Waspi women. We spent years working and paying our dues, only to find out we had to wait an additional six years for our state pension to come in – and with no warning at all.
“Now we are fast approaching retirement with our finances in ruins. The cost-of-living crisis means many Waspi women are struggling to pay essential bills, heat their homes and put food on the table. We are watching thousands of women die in financial hardship while ministers refuse to talk.”
The campaign group has been calling for compensation. Of 3.8 million women affected, 220,190 have already died. By the end of 2025, the number will increase to 346,287, the group said.
Meanwhile, a recent Waspi survey revealed almost a third of the affected women are in debt, with 30 percent saying they would use any compensation won from government to pay off debts.
The Sunday Express previously reported that 2023 is the year when Waspi women will finally discover whether they are due compensation. Some 18 months ago, Waspi campaigners were celebrating what they saw as a supportive ruling by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
It stated that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) should have written individual letters to affected women 28 months before it finally sent them out, an oversight it called “maladministration” – giving Waspi women hope they would receive compensation, but since then they have faced another wait.
The second part of the Ombudsman’s investigation was completed in December, repeating that the DWP was guilty of maladministration. However, it added this “did not lead to all the injustices claimed”. The Ombudsman is currently considering its final step, looking at what action the DWP should take “to remedy the injustice”.
A DWP spokesman said: “We support millions of people and our priority is ensuring they get the help and support to which they are entitled. The Government decided over 25 years ago it was going to make the state pension age the same for men and women.
“Both the High Court and Court of Appeal have supported the actions of the DWP under successive governments dating back to 1995 and the Supreme Court refused the claimants permission to appeal.”
