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Government considers help for women affected by pension reforms

Jonathan Winston Jonathan Winston
2 min read

The coalition government is considering changes to its plans to raise the state pension age in a bid to help women in their fifties who would be most adversely affected.

There is a growing backbench rebellion concerning plans to raise the state pension age to 65 in 2018 and 66 in 2020, particularly amongst Liberal Democrat MPs who say the proposals will hit hardest the 330,000 women who were born between December 1953 and October 1954, as they will face the steepest rise in their retirement age.

The Treasury is believed to still be intending to push ahead with the plans but the issue is currently being discussed by the Chancellor George Osborne and his Liberal Democrat deputy Danny Alexander, amid rumours that the Lib Dems are trying to push through a deal which would see people retiring a few months later which would fund a transition package for women.

The Pensions Bill, which details all the changes, is to be debated in the House of Commons for the first time today. A spokesman from the Department for Work and Pensions said that the government stands by the proposed timetable and intends to push through the bill as planned, but Rachel Reeves, the shadow pensions minister urged a rethink. She said: “I’ve always agreed that the state pension needs to rise as people live longer, but these proposals unfairly hit women.”

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