Strangford DUP MP Jim Shannon, speaking during a debate highlighting how unfair the pension age changes have been to women born in the 1950’s, said: “I was raised with a great work ethic – you don’t work you don’t eat. You pay your dues and you reap what you sow. This is the premise that an entire generation have been raised on, and this is the generation who is now being told that the dues are uplifted, the harvest isn’t due for a further 3.5 years.
“Many women will now need to keep slogging on. This may seems alright on the face of it, and what is 3.5 years in the grand scheme of things – it isn’t that long.
“Now I want you to consider a lady who left school at 14 as was permitted to work in the local sewing factory. She worked there for the next 35 years until the factory closed due to relocation abroad. With no education and skills, she took on a job cleaning the floors in schools and buildings and has done that for the last 11 years on her hands and knees. To this lady to wait another 3.5 years is not a trivial matter – that is more years of an aching back, fingers that remain bent and knees that are worn away. It for this lady and others like her in this constituency that I speak out and say, this is enough.”
The Pensions Act 1995 provided for the State Pension age (SPA) for women to increase from 60 to 65 over the period April 2010 to 2020. This was followed by the Pensions Act 2011 to accelerate the latter part of this timetable, starting in April 2016 when women’s SPA was 63 so that it will now reach 65 in November 2018, this will then rise to 66 by October 2020. The reason was because of increases in life expectancy since the timetable was last revised. But Mr Shannon said: “As I have illustrated the numbers don’t equal the human cost and health.
“Those women born in the 1950’s are justified in their argument that they have been hit particularly hard, with significant changes to their SPA imposed with a lack of appropriate notification, it is not like those who have been looking to the future and thinking, I will take that night tech course to give me some qualifications – I can’t do this hard labour job for the next 30 years! These women have been stuck to the whim of government with no notice to change their future potential.
“I understand the way the world works, if the government continues to borrow the debt continues to rise etc etc – we all know the story. Changes must be made – but how we make those changes is the problem here. I find myself in a position where I support the campaign Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) is calling for “fair transitional state pension arrangements,” which they say translates into a ‘bridging pension’ paid from age 60 to SPA.
“In Northern Ireland there are 76,000 who are faced with a further 1.5 year wait, this on top of previous rises and this simply is not acceptable and something must be done to bridge this gap – especially for those who physically cannot keep working. Is there an argument for opening the doors of PIP a little further for these women to enable them to have an income without working?
“This is unlikely as it is clear that government by hook or by crook is determined to lessen the amount of claimants despite what people’s doctors say – although that is a debate for another day. JSA is out of the question and is restricted and ESA criteria may say she can move a box or a pound coin so can work – without taking into account that if that was all this lady needed to work she would moved that empty box and pound coin all day to be able to keep on working and be independent as she has tried to do.
“So we do not have a benefit system which allows for this at the present so who is there to bridge the gap for these women who do not seek to have something they have not worked for – they are not asking for a handout like so many people do. They are asking for the return of hard work for 45 years or more – why have we let these people down and what will be done to help those whose hard work has meant their bodies can no longer continue at the pace?
“I am asking government and in particular the responding Minister – to outline the help for the lady in my scenario who has to work until she is almost 64 scrubbing a floor in pain – what are you doing for her. Yes I know that individual cases make for bad law – but I also know that this is not an individual case – there are so many in the same position and it is time the government acknowledged the effect this acceleration has had and is having and seeks to simply do the right thing for this generation who have worked hard in all areas to build this country and who deserve the same respect and attention that they have given all of their lives.
