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WASPI 's Is (Mostly) a Campaign for Inequality
Author(s) -
Pemberton Hugh
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the political quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.373
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1467-923X
pISSN - 0032-3179
DOI - 10.1111/1467-923x.12347
Subject(s) - pension , inequality , sympathy , compensation (psychology) , state (computer science) , politics , retirement age , demographic economics , political science , opposition (politics) , economics , labour economics , law , psychology , social psychology , mathematical analysis , mathematics , algorithm , computer science
Women Against State Pension Inequality ( WASPI ) has mounted a vociferous campaign for full compensation to be given to ‘1950s women’ who, it argues, have suffered severe financial hardship as a result of the rise in their state pension age from age 60. That campaign has gained significant political traction, with much sympathy expressed for the plight of those affected and acceptance (most notably by the Scottish National Party and the Labour Party) that some form of compensation is urgently needed. But WASPI fails to acknowledge the rise in the state pension age's roots in the fight for women's equality, disregards the fact that the problems experienced by this cohort as they near retirement are faced by both women and men and glosses over the fact that the increase in pension age above 65 applies to both genders equally. Its campaign obscures deeper and more important issues in old‐age income replacement.