Report: UK Faces Sickness-Related Employment Crisis

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PUBLISHED Mar 25, 2024UPDATED Mar 26

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The Facts

According to an analysis by the Resolution Foundation, a British think tank, the UK is in the middle of the longest sustained rise in the number of working-age adults who are economically inactive due to sickness.
The number of people quitting the workforce due to long-term sickness rose from 2.1M in July 2019 to 2.8M in October 2023 — the longest sustained increase in sickness-related inactivity on record.

The Spin

Right narrative

The UK should be wary about its benefits system, which encourages people not to return to work and claim health-related benefits instead. The extraordinary rise in disability benefits claims has weakened the economy, crippled the exchequer, and caused enormous strains on the NHS.

Warning as UK faces 'longest sustained' rise in sickness-related inactivity since 1990s

Express.co.ukMar 24

Left narrative

A benefits crackdown is unlikely to solve the UK's jobless crisis. Only improved mental health and musculoskeletal care infrastructure, shortened NHS waiting lists, and extensive budget measures to boost the labor force can help tackle the country's economic inactivity challenge.

Near record 2.7 million working-age adults are too sick to work, says think tank

IndependentMar 23