A retired mother who will be among the first women to receive her pension at 66 – rather than 65 – has urged other pensioners-to-be to sign a petition.

Jane Woodage says she was, until last month, unaware that she would not receive her state pension in 2019, but in 2020 when she turns 66.

Unaware of the change in eligibility Mrs Woodage, 60, only saved for her 65th birthday and faces spending her 66th year without a proper income.

Under the 2011 Pensions Act the earliest pensionable age will rise to 65 in December 2018 and 66 by October 2020.

Parliament is expected to debate the impact the changes will have on ‘transitional’ future pensioners on February 1.

This follows a petition calling for the Government to make ‘fair transitional state pension arrangements’, which received over 100,000 signatures.

Mrs Woodage, who retired from the Civil Service due to due ill health, is urging other women to sign the petition, which as of January 25, had over 130,000 signatures.

The mother-of-one said: “When I get to 65 not only will I not get a pension, there will be nothing for a year. There’s no transition year and they’ve made no provisions.

“I don’t know what I’ll do. I’ll struggle. My husband has a state pension but he’s 81 and I want to remain independent.”

READ MORE: TaxAssist Accountants in alert to "silver start-ups"

READ MORE:Government figures show fewer paying into their pension

Mrs Woodage added: “I set up my pensions taking it for granted that I would get my state pension at 60.

“Now there’s a year where there’s going to be no funding.”

Mrs Woodage decided to warn other future pensioners after the changes took her by surprise.

She said: “My niece asked if I had seen the petition and I hadn’t even heard of it. I decided to ask people locally and they were flabbergasted.”

Mrs Woodage added: “The Government have handled this very badly. They admitted they’ve rushed it through. It’s been a blunder.”

The petition ‘Make Fair Transitional State Pension Arrangements For 1950s Women’ can be signed at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/110776.

There is also the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign. Search ‘WASPI’ on Facebook.

The Examiner contacted the Department for Work and Pensions but no one responded.