WASPI Women of the North need your outrage today .....

There’s been a lot on LinkedIn and other social media channels recently about the changes to inheritance tax following the budget and how this will affect high worth individuals, which let’s be honest includes some farmers.   Now whilst I have the utmost respect for our farming community and the hardships they endure in their day to day work, I do not accept (unless there are exceptional circumstances) they should be exempt from inheritance tax on the assets they pass down in the same way that I do not accept that wealthy households should receive the DWP Winter Fuel Allowance.   Rather than bemoan these changes and perceived hardships, I’d suggest they’ve had it pretty good, exploiting loopholes that have now been closed.  A controversial view perhaps, but it’s a basic principle of our welfare state – something which is admired the world over – that those that can, make provision for those that can’t.

What I cannot get my head around, is the injustice imposed upon our WASPI women.  If you haven’t heard this term before, WASPI stands for Women Against State Pension Inequality.  So, not high worth individuals with wealth plans, and second homes, but ordinary women who are suffering because of a change of policy they say they didn’t have time to plan for.  On their website, which you can find at .Home - WASPI - Women Against State Pension Inequality they describe their plight as follows:

“Because of the way the increases were brought in, women born in the 1950s (on or after 6th April 1950-5th April 1960) 3.8 million women have been hit particularly hard. We are angry that we have been treated unfairly and unequally just because of the day we were born. Significant changes to the age we receive our state pension have been imposed upon us with a lack of appropriate notification, with little or no notice and much faster than we were promised – some of us have been hit by more than one increase.

As a result, hundreds of thousands of us are suffering financial hardship, with not enough time to re-plan for our retirement. Women are telling us that they can’t believe their retirement age has increased by 4, 5 or 6 years and they didn’t even know about it!!

With no other source of income (until the 1990s many women weren’t allowed to join company pension schemes, many of us are carers or in poor health) securing work is proving impossible and zero contract hours or Job Seekers’ Allowance is the only alternative for many.”

So whilst the WASPI women do not dispute the need to level up the retirement age so it is equal with the retirement age for men, they point out that women generally are more likely to be poor in older age, this is even worse if they live in the North East of England. A report published by the Northern Health Science Alliance Ltd tells us in their report Woman-of-the-North-report.pdf that women in our region face unequal challenges and inequalities in their lives and health compared to those in the rest of the country.  They are more likely to work more hours for less pay and to be in worse health, earning on average £569, much lower than the national average of £625, and considerably lower than women in London who earn on average £757.  On top of this, they are more likely to be an unpaid carer (contributing £10bn to the local economy), more likely to live in poverty and to have fewer qualifications reducing the quality of employment they can realistically attain, with increases in the retirement age having an even greater impact on women in the North East than elsewhere.

So, considering all these inequalities and the amount of noise I’ve heard recently about the injustices of inheritance tax for those with extreme wealth, please spare a thought, a keystroke or two, and a little of your outrage for the WASPI women today. And if you yourself are a WASPI women, and in need of financial assistance please consider reaching out to your local Citizens Advice