The level of illness among the population is costing lives and harming the economy, a new report has warned.
More than 2.6 million people now do not have jobs because of their health, according to latest employment data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said that the issue had become a "serious fiscal threat" to the UK - and to individuals' health.
It blamed long NHS waiting lists and said reform was urgently needed to avert "killer" costs while also ending second-rate care.
Separate data which has just been published shows that NHS waiting list rises by around 100,000 in a month to a record 7.7 million people in England. Rishi Sunak has made cutting waiting lists one of his priorities for 2023, pledging in January that “lists will fall and people will get the care they need more quickly”.
Among the 7.7 million on the waiting list:
In 389,952 cases the patient was waiting more than 52 weeks.
In 96,722 cases they were waiting more than 65 weeks.
In 7,289 cases they were waiting more than 78 weeks.
In 277 cases they were waiting more than 104 weeks.
Where Have All The Workers Gone?
Walk down most high streets and you will see lots of signs in shops asking for workers. Anecdotally, there seems to be a big rise in com plaints from small business owners, saying they can't get staff, as in this staff-less food stand I saw in Edinburgh recently.
Beyond the conversational gripes of small shops and restaurant/cafe owners, the picture seems more complex than it might first seem.
There's lot of evidence that workers are finding life increasingly financially challenging. For instance H&T Group, the UK’s largest pawnbroker said profits rose 31 per cent in the first half, as the cost-of-living rise sent more people to pawn their valuables.
Cash has mounted a comeback for the first time in a decade, data shows. Cash use has been in long-term decline, but the banking body UK Finance said the cost of living crisis had prompted many people to turn back to “tangible” physical money to help them manage their budgets.
Even the most basic of spending - that on food - has come under pressure. The latest survey by the ONS reveals that almost half of adults said they were buying less food, largely because they can't afford it.
So what has happened to the workforce, faced by increasing sickness on the one hand and a money squeeze on the other?
The first thing to see is that older people seem to be re-entering the workforce. Perhaps pushed there by a new need to earn.
In May 1992 the percentage of economically inactive 50-64 year olds was 38.7%
In July 2023 the percentage of economically inactive 50-64 year olds had fallen to 26.8%
That implies that 30% more people in that older age group are now looking for or in work than they were 30 years ago.
But that has done little to stop the big problem for employers looking for staff. Although the number go job vacancies has fallen recently, it is still massively up on the levels of just a few years ago.
Graphics by @adamshawbiz
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