The state pension age for women rose to 65 to bring it into line with men and will go up to 66 by 2020, and 67 by 2028. But campaign group Backto60’s UN representative, Davina Lloyd explained 1950s women were not the generation to have their pensions changed due to them being unable to work or earn a high enough salary to add to a pension. She noted that 1950s womens’ lives have been “intolerable” by the age change.

Speaking to Express.co.uk, Ms Lloyd said: “A lot of married women weren’t allowed to be educated and therefore those women had low paid jobs.

“If you’re in a low pay job in the 60s and early 70s, you were not able to pay into a pension.

“There was a bar at which anyone earning a pittance which they were couldn’t pay into the state pension.

“If you worked part-time, you couldn’t pay into a state pension.

READ MORE: State pension age change: Back to 60 has MORE damning evidence

“If you had children and you stayed at home to care for them or you cared for elderly parents, you were not given pension credits so you couldn’t build up a pension.

“Every single thing that’s now been put right more or less, all subsequent generations were denied to this particular group of women.

“The impact assessment would have said, ‘we’re changing the wrong group of women because this is going to make their lives intolerable’ and it has.”

It comes as older savers have been resisting temptations to dip into their pensions during the coronavirus lockdown, figures from insurers suggest.

The body is urging people who are considering accessing their pension to seek impartial financial guidance from Pension Wise, which is available to the over-50s, or seek regulated financial advice, and to ask their provider about their options.

Rob Yuille, assistant director, head of long-term savings at the ABI said: “As COVID-19 struck there was a fear in the industry and in Government that a pensions panic would hit, with mass pension withdrawals out of fear of stock market volatility and labour market uncertainty.

“So far, this concern couldn’t be more wrong. Instead customers have been holding off in large numbers.

“The pandemic is a harsh reminder of the uncertainty of how long your retirement might last, what it will look like and what it will cost. More than ever it has shown that when it comes to making decisions on your pension, you should get expert help.”