Long-term sickness hits record high with 2.6m off work

As reported by The Times, long-term sickness has reached another record high, with almost 2.6m people off work because of illness

Despite a government drive to get people off disability benefits and back into jobs, long-term sickness rose by 50,000 in the most recent figures, as progress in reducing economic inactivity appeared to stall.

Ministers have made reducing long-term sickness a “top priority”, fearing long-term absence is both worsening inflation and adding billions of pounds to the welfare bill.

Progress had been made in tackling a 600,000 rise in people not working since the pandemic, with economic inactivity peaking at more than nine million last year before falling back to 8.65m this spring. However, numbers rose to 8.69 million in Office for National Statistics figures published yesterday and covering April to June.

Ministers are likely to be most worried about a rise in long-term sickness, with 2.58m now citing this as their reason for not working, beating the previous record of 2.55m earlier this year.

The Resolution Foundation said the government “will be concerned that long-term economic inactivity due to ill health continues to hit a record high of 2.6m ”, adding that employment among the over-50s was still below pre-Covid levels.

Mel Stride, the work and pensions secretary, has suggested that over-50s should consider delivering takeaways and other jobs usually done by the young as he attempts to tempt them back to work.

He is also planning a big expansion in schemes such as life coaches for the long-term sick and tax breaks for bosses who offer occupational health in an effort to reverse the trend.

New sickness benefit claims doubled after Covid, peaking at 1,500 a day earlier this year. Reasons are thought to include a rise in mental health problems among the young, long waits for NHS treatment, reforms to benefits rules and even back problems caused by more working from home.

The government is on course to breach its own £140bn welfare cap by £4bn next year as long-term sickness pushes up spending. Currently £53bn is spent on health and disability benefits for working-age adults, up £13bn in two years and projected to reach £69bn in real terms by 2027.

Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, said: “There are record numbers of people out of work due to long-term sickness, and the employment rate for over-50s is still below pre-pandemic levels, yet Tory ministers have no solutions to get people back to work. The consequence is thousands written off and a rising benefit bill.”

Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, insisted: “Our ambitious reforms will make work pay and help even more people into work — including by expanding free childcare next year — helping to deliver on our priority to grow the economy.”