According to think tank, the longest sustained increase in the number of people too sick to work since the 1990s

Britain is experiencing the longest sustained rise in the number of working-age adults too sick to work since the 1990s, according to a report which warns that a crackdown on benefits is unlikely to end the unemployment crisis. country will solve.

According to the Resolution Foundation, economic inactivity due to long-term illness – when people aged 16 to 64 are not working or looking for a job due to a health problem – has increased every year since July 2019, the longest sustained increase since 1994. 1998 .

The think tank warned that a near-record number of 2.7 million working-age adults were too sick to work, with the biggest increase since the Covid pandemic concentrated among Britain’s youngest and oldest workers.

Highlighting the legacy of the pandemic as the British economy faces chronic labor shortages, it said Britain was the only G7 country with a lower employment rate than before the health emergency.

However, the report shows that the upward trend in long-term absenteeism had already started before the pandemic struck in the summer of 2019 and had lasted 54 months. The longest previous period lasted 55 months, between 1994 and 1998.

It comes at a time when Rishi Sunak is coming under increasing pressure from within Conservative ranks to “get a grip on unemploymentafter a dramatic increase in economic inactivity over the past four years to more than 9 million people.

People with long-term illness do not contribute to the official unemployment rate, which has fallen to 3.9% among those aged 16 and over – equivalent to 1.4 million people – which is the lowest level since the mid-1970s.

However, economic inactivity has increased from 20.5% of all working-age adults to 21.8% – equivalent to 700,000 people – and shows little sign of slowing as the impact of the Covid pandemic on the labor market recedes.

Labor and the Conservatives have promised a tough stance on benefit claimants. Earlier this month, shadow work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall said there would be “no option for living on benefits” under a future Labor government as she outlined plans to support young people to find work or training.

The government announced a crackdown on welfare recipients who “refuse” to engage with their employment agency in the autumn statement, while Mel Stride, the work and pensions secretary, was criticized this week for claiming that the UK’s approach to mental health was in danger of failure. “gone too far”.

However, the Resolution Foundation report said policymakers should “be wary of an increasingly restrictive unemployment benefits system” as this may have encouraged more people to claim health-related benefits instead.

Spending on disability benefits is expected to rise by £16.1 billion over the next five years to £52.2 billion in 2028-29, an increase of 45%, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.

Louise Murphy, a senior economist at the Resolution Foundation, said the impact on young and old adults “could have serious consequences for both the living standards and career paths of individuals, as well as wider pressure on the NHS and social spending if we failure to improve health care.” the health of the country and reducing economic inactivity.”

“The UK labor market is finally returning to normal, but the Covid-19 pandemic has left an alarming legacy of the longest sustained rise in illness-related inactivity since the 1990s,” she added.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “We have reduced the number of unemployed households by 1 million since 2010. Our £2.5 billion ‘back to work’ plan will help break down the barriers to employment for over a million more people and our recent budget estimates that the measures will boost the workforce by an additional 300,000 workers will increase.”