A public meeting is to be held in Newtown to highlight what Plaid Cymru politicians say is an "injustice to women" over changes to pensions.
At least 3,300 women in Montgomeryshire born on or after 6 April 1951 have had significant changes made to their state pension age without them knowing, according to the political party.
Helen Mary Jones, AM for Mid and West Wales, is working with the campaign group Women Against State Pension Injustice and will an information event about the issue at 3pm on Saturday, 11 May at the Monty Club in Broad Street.
“Plaid Cymru stands with women of Wales and the injustice that has been served upon them by the Westminster government," she said.
“Despite paying full National Insurance contributions all their working lives, these women have been told at the last minute that the pensions they had expected at age 60 would be delayed by up to six years.
“This fiasco has caused retirement plans to be shattered. Women who have planned and saved for their retirement are living on dwindling limited savings until they reach their new state pension age when the only income they will have left will be their state pension."
She added: “The consequences of this poor implementation and communication are likely to be poverty, loss of independence and financial security, and ill health.
“We know that we need to introduce equality in terms of the state pension age, but we need to do that over a longer time frame and give an opportunity to women to prepare properly for their future and in a way that doesn’t leave them in poverty and distress.
“We held a successful Plaid Cymru debate in March on the issue in the Senedd. A majority of Assembly Members backed the Plaid Cymru motion calling on the Welsh Government to make representations to the UK Government in support of the campaign.”
The campaign group is calling for “fair transitional state pension arrangements,” which they say translates into a ‘bridging pension’ paid from age 60 to the state pension age. They also advocate compensation for losses for those women who have already reached their state pension age.
