London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2025

Generation of women in debt after 'absolutely devastating' state pension fallout

Generation of women in debt after 'absolutely devastating' state pension fallout

Data shared with Sky News from WASPI found a third of women affected by the changes are in debt, with as many as 80% saying they suffered financial hardship by the delay in finding out the retirement age had changed.

For 3.8 million women born in the 1950s, retiring at 60 was all they knew.

Until suddenly, they learned that they would have to wait a further six years to get their state pension.

An additional six years of working none of them, including Moira Holland, had planned for.

Ms Holland had dedicated 35 years of her working life to the care sector, after gruelling and tiresome work she was ready to retire at 60 and was counting down the days until she would be able to enjoy her retirement.

Vigorous work had also taken its toll on her mental and physical health, but knowing she was a year from retiring got her through the tough days.

The devastating blow came via a letter, informing her a year before she was due to say goodbye to work, that she would have to work for six more years and retire at 66 instead.

"It was devastating, absolutely devastating," Ms Holland tells Sky News. "We thought at 60 years old we'd get our pension.

"So I was all set up to retire, have a nice life, get my pension, be able to manage well, and then to get the letter to say no – 'you've not got to work one more year, you've got to work six more years till you're 66' – was terrible, absolutely terrible."

Ms Holland says the last-minute nature of the news has impacted her health.

"I had mental health problems and arthritis, you know really physically and mentally, I was really struggling, really struggling to work," she explains.

"Also, lots of my friends died at 60, and they never got their pension. So on top of the health problems, I'm thinking, am I ever going to see this pension? Am I going to live to be 66? Nobody knows. So really, it was very, very heart-wrenching."


Moira Holland

Why was the state pension age changed?


The state pension age was aligned to match men in a move praised for improving gender equality.

But campaigners from Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) have long argued they were not given sufficient warning of the change, leaving millions with insufficient time to prepare or make other financial arrangements.

What has the impact been?


Exclusive data shared with Sky News from WASPI found a third of women affected by the changes are in debt, with as many as 80% saying they suffered financial hardship by the delay in finding out the retirement age had changed.

So far, 220,190 women impacted have died without answers.

Campaign chair of the voluntary organisation, Angela Madden, accuses the government of not meeting with members since 2016.

She tells Sky News: "The government has never really engaged with us. Guy Opperman was the last pensions minister to meet with the WASPI campaign in 2016, which really is atrocious given that we have lost so much through government incompetence.

"It is up to the government to change the state pension age if they must.

"There were probably reasons they did that, but not to have the courtesy to give us any notice so that we can do anything about it is absolutely disgraceful, and they should be ashamed of themselves."

Campaign chair of the voluntary organisation WASPI Angela Madden


'I wasn't given the opportunity'


Last year, the Parliamentary Ombudsman found the women should have been given at least 28 months' more notice.

It said the Department for Work and Pensions should have written individual letters to the affected women.

Ms Madden was also personally affected by the maladministration.

"Some women, myself included, chose to stop working before we knew about the state pension age increasing because our parents or members of our family required care," she says.

"I made the choice to leave a full time job and spend some time with my mother in her final days.

"Looking back, if given an earlier warning, I would have probably combined caring for my mother and working part-time. I wasn't given the opportunity to make that choice.

"Had the government done what they should have done and told us as soon as they knew about the law changing, then we would have all known about it well in advance and been able to make the right decisions."

What has the government said?


A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson told Sky News: "We support millions of people every year 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 as a move towards gender equality.

"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."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
×