WOMEN who feel they are losing out as the state pension age is raised protested in Worcester today.

As MPs debate the plight of women born in the 1950s, the campaign group Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) gathered outside the Guildhall in the city to make their voices heard.

The group say that women born after April 6 1951 have lost out by the changing of the state pension age for women to 65 – the same as men – by the Conservative government in 1995, and that additional pensions legislation in 2011 under the Conservative and Lib Dem coalition government also meant that women did not have enough time to prepare.

The protest today (December 14) was led by Labour Worcester City Councillor Joy Squires.

Cllr Squires said: “The key thing is that we support the equalisation of the pension age. This is not about being against men, it is about being for women. We’ve all worked, we’ve all worked for over 40 years.

“We believe this affects over a thousand woman in Worcester and millions more across the country.

“Many women have caring responsibilities, many are looking after their parents. Working full time would be out of the question.

Elaine Donnelly, aged 62, could not continue working as a nursing tutor after suffering a stroke in her 50s. She said she has lost out on nearly £36,000 by not receiving her pension.

She said: "When the changes came in, I was told I could receive my state pension at 62 but since then it has gone up by four more years.

"This is not a welfare benefit, it is something I have contributed to for over 40 years.

"I can’t work anymore and I’m having to rely on my husband. If I could, there isn’t anywhere for people of my age to work and then we’re told what, that we should go and get an apprenticeship?

"The absolute injustice of it all is why we are here."