‘I’m a Waspi woman who worked for the DWP for 36 years – it’s a monumental mess’

A grandmother who spent decades working for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has revealed even she was unaware of the change in the state pension age and described the actions of the organisation as a “monumental mess.”

Michelle Jones, whose name has been changed at her request to remain anonymous, told i how she is one of the 3.8 million Waspi (Women Against State Pension Inequality) born in the 1950s who were affected by the change in pension age from 60 to 66.

Michelle, who is married with children and grandchildren and lives in the West Midlands, says it is the second time the actions of the DWP impacted her life as she felt forced to medically retire at 54 despite taking them to court and winning her case.

“Having worked for the DWP for 36 years and being one of the Waspi women affected by this age change, I can only say this is a monumental mess by them.

“We all know there is insufficient money to pay each woman what she lost as a result of non notification and even worse, no protected rights for those within 10 years of retirement.

“Those affected deserve fair compensation for the maladministration so the government needs to get it done.”

Michelle, who is now 69, says she began working for the DWP at the age of 18 and held many roles there over the years, including high profile positions.

Women from the WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality) campaign assemble outside Parliament during Prime Minister’s Questions on International Women’s Day on 8 March 2023 (Photo: Mark Kerrison/In Pictures via Getty Images)

She told i how she began working from home in 1999, spending three days working from home and the other two days in the office. She had a spinal condition which she underwent surgery for in 1994 and although she experienced no issues for the next 10 years, in 2005, the problem flared up again leading to her spending six months in bed.

Michelle said: “When I finally got back on my feet, my condition had worsened. However, as my job was one that could undoubtedly be done from home, I then began working four-and-a-half days a week from home and went into the office for half a day a week.”

Michelle says this arrangement worked fine for around two-and-a-half years, but then a new manager decided he didn’t want anyone working from home and gave everyone who was working remotely a 90 day change of contract.

Michelle explained: “My condition affected my bowel and bladder and I was on opiates, so I couldn’t go and work in the office. But working from home, I could manage it and my productivity was very good.”

Michelle says she ended up contacting a solicitor and suing the DWP. It took two years and she won her case. However, she says by this point, all her working equipment had been taken out of her home and she was told she would need to do 12 weeks of training before restarting work.

She added: “I felt they were making things as hard as possible, so I felt squashed and as if I had no choice but to take medical retirement.

“I discussed it with my husband and because I was 54-and-a-half by this point, we calculated we could manage for just over five years until I got my State Pension.

“My husband who is 10 years older than me, had left his job at the civil service at this point, so he went and got some work with the local authority to keep us going.

“We thought by the time I was 60, he’d be 70 and we’d both be done. But then when I was 59, I found out from a friend that I wouldn’t be getting my State Pension at 60, but would have to wait until I was 66.”

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Michelle says she was devastated by the bombshell news. Her husband had stopped working by this point and she has her elderly parents who were in poor health living with them, as well as caring for her grandson.

“We had all this going on and then to suddenly find out I wasn’t getting my State Pension for another six years was a huge shock,” she recalled. “My dad had to have piped oxygen into the house and we had to keep the heating on even in the summer because he had heart disease, so our bills were colossal.

“I finally got my pension at 66 and had almost given up on it by then. We were very lucky as we both had good civil service pensions, so we did not struggle.

“But it did mean we had to work more years than we had intended to and it caused us a lot of stress which I feel angry about.”

Michelle says she has no issue with the retirement age of women being brought in line with men as she felt the ambiguity of women retiring early was outdated. However, she firmly believes it was badly handled and that women should have been notified properly and given time to prepare for the change.

“We should have had time to prepare and plan what we were going to do in the lead-up to the change in State Pension age,” she said. “I might not have decided to medically retire.”

She added: “Having worked for the DWP for so many years, I know that there have always been disasters, not solely of their own making.

“But one of the biggest failings is communication problems and that is definitely what happened to me and all the Waspi women.”

Angela Madden, chair of the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign said: “Tens of thousands of women across the country had their lives ruined due to the government’s failure to properly communicate State Pension age increases, putting their retirement plans into disarray.

Angela Madden, chairwoman of Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) (Photo: Victoria Jones/PA Wire)

“Even those working for the DWP for decades did not know about these changes, showing how a combination of incompetence and sheer arrogance led ministers to fail to communicate with their own staff.

“The very department that ‘Michelle’ spent her life diligently working for now urgently needs to listen to calls from MPs across the Commons and set out clear proposals for delivering fair and fast compensation to those affected.

“MPs must then be given the opportunity to debate and vote on these proposals as soon as Parliament resumes.”

A DWP spokesperson said: “We are considering the Ombudsman’s report and will respond in due course, having cooperated fully throughout this investigation.

“The government has always been committed to supporting all pensioners in a sustainable way that gives them a dignified retirement whilst also being fair to them and taxpayers.

“The State Pension is the foundation of income in retirement and will remain so as we deliver a further 8.5 per cent rise in April, increasing the State Pension for 12 million pensioners. This sees the full rate of the new State Pension rise by £900.”