Women hit by pension changes hope for compensation

Around 40 members of Northamptonshire Waspi, including Mary Jones (centre), will protest outside Parliament today

Jonathan Harris Three women are side-by-side. From the left there is a red-headed woman in a purple jumper. She is next to a blonde woman in a yellow shirt with black trim - they are each wearing a pink sash with "WASPI" on them. To the right is another blonde woman wearing a blue coat with a multi-coloured scarf. — Around 40 members of Northamptonshire Waspi, including Mary Jones (centre), will protest outside Parliament today

A representative from the Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi), group has expressed hope the autumn Budget today will include compensation for women impacted by changes to the state pension age.

Mary Jones, from Northamptonshire Waspi, said thousands of women in the county were among those affected by government decisions to raise the pension age from 60 to 65 in 1995 and later to 66 in 2012.

The change has left many women without the retirement income they had originally anticipated.

Ms Jones said she "sincerely hopes" that some "long-awaited compensation" had been set aside by Chancellor Rachel Reeves for those affected.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves will announce a number of measures in the autumn Budget today

PA A woman in a navy blouse and white shirt looks off to the right with a plant pot over her right shoulder. — Chancellor Rachel Reeves will announce a number of measures in the autumn Budget today

Around 40 women from Northamptonshire are heading to Westminster this morning to join a Waspi protest ahead of the Budget being delivered by Chancellor Rachel Reeves this afternoon.

Government sources have indicated that the Budget may include tax increases and spending cuts totalling £40bn.

Ms Jones added: "I have lost most of my private pensions as I had to draw on them since the age of 60.

"With the cost of everything rising, budgeting has been extremely hard."

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson previously stated that they would "listen respectfully" to the concerns of the women involved and "take on board any lessons learnt".

The budget speech is set to begin at 12:30 GMT and will be broadcast live on BBC iPlayer and the BBC News website.

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