Jackie Ashley points out that the coalition agreement states women's pension age will not begin to rise to 66 until 2020, ie after men's and women's pension ages were due to equalise at 65 (This new pension benefits women, but has one big blot, 4 April). I am 57 and have just learned my pension age will increase by two years, from 64 to 66. I was a state pensions adviser at the DWP, giving pension forecasts to thousands of single women like myself, on low incomes. I did everything my employer told me to do in planning early and saving hard for retirement. Now approaching retirement and in poor health, I find they have ignored their agreement and require me to pay back over £10,000 of the pension I've already earned. My MP said it was "the best balance of sustainability with fairness" to ask me to contribute towards the £5bn deficit, and that it was not discriminatory – although no man will have his pension age increased by more than one year. How can women make up for two years' lost pension at this late stage?
Laura Davis
Watford, Hertfordshire
• Jackie Ashley neglects the bigger blot that the new pension will not benefit existing women pensioners as it will not apply to them. This means many will still not be entitled to a full state pension because they have an incomplete contribution record or paid the married women's reduced NI rate. In the 1970s, with rocketing house prices, high inflation and low part-time wages, paying the lower rate seemed sensible for many women with children, who now do not receive a full pension, and are punished for having looked after their families.
Marilyn Biles
Fareham, Hampshire