Read: New analysis shows long-term sickness is forcing women and young men from the workforce
The first in-depth study into the impact of ill-health on the UK’s working population has highlighted worrying trends of long-term sickness in two particular groups - women across all age ranges and young men aged 16-24, with a sharp increase in mental health issues.
The report by the Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM), Understanding Recent Trends in Ill-Health Driven Fallout from the UK Job Market, looks at the factors that are driving the increase in ill-health fallout from the UK labour market and at what might be preventing people returning to it. It shows how occupation, gender and disability can all affect getting back to work.
The statistics demonstrate the extent of the problem. Of 41.6 million working aged people in the UK from 16 to 64, 2.5 million are inactive because of long-term sickness – that’s one in 16 people. It also found that more than 11 million people in the UK are living with long-term health conditions, with only 7.4 million of those employed. Looking at the wider causes of ill-health, it highlighted that the UK’s ageing population, high rates of excess weight and alcohol consumption and a legacy of smoking have all contributed to long-term physical and mental health problems. Pressures in health and social care delivery, including the impact of Covid, have inevitably led to backlogs for treatment and worsening health outcomes.
As is evident with other inequalities, what people do and where they live affects their ability to adapt to living with a long-term physical or mental health illness. The South and East of the UK have the highest employment rates for those living with long-term ill health, coinciding with those areas which also have high levels of white-collar jobs. Those occupations where it is difficult to work from home are more likely to see people leave the workforce due to long-term sickness.
Long-term sickness in women across all age groups has been rising since 2014, with women becoming economically inactive at a higher rate than men. They are more likely even than older men to become inactive due to ill health. Inactivity due to long-term ill health will soon overtake looking after family and home as the reason they withdraw from the workforce.
The rate of young men’s inactivity, aged 16-24, has risen by 80% in the past 30 years, compared to that of young women which rose by only 21%, with a sharp increase in mental health issues as the reason for poor health. In the wider workforce, only two million of the four million people living with mental health conditions are employed.
The fact that nearly 60 per cent of people who are economically inactive and left work in the last two to three years have a work-limiting health condition highlights the significant link between the gap in the workforce and poor health. The historically high figures, above those in other OECD countries, remain a pressing concern for government but also for businesses who are unable to fill the skills gaps required to operate productive and profitable companies. It’s an economic problem as well as a social one.
The Purpose Coalition works with leading purpose-led organisations who recognise that putting the health and wellbeing needs of their employees front and centre of their business strategies is key to attracting and retaining staff. Virgin Money, for example, launched A Life More Virgin initiative which provides employees with a comprehensive health and wellbeing offer, ranging from a greater opportunity to work flexibly including a locationless approach to hiring, extra wellbeing days in addition to their annual leave allowances and paid family leave.
With the Government Equalities Office estimating that in the UK women with severe symptoms of menopause incur a total of £7,276,334 absence-related costs annually, many employers are now beginning to look at how they can address the issue more effectively, by eliminating the stigma associated with it through talking more constructively about its impact and by introducing more effective solutions. Global digital business services company and Purpose Coalition partner, Teleperformance, which took part in a recent Women in the Workplace roundtable in Westminster, has set up a successful community group for its UK employees, “Menopause & More”, to create a safe space to talk and share while supporting each other.
Many organisations are also prioritising conversations around mental health, critically led by their leadership teams who can create an open culture which facilitates transparency and inclusivity. Channel 4 is one such business, with its 4Mind network membership now including about a quarter of all Channel 4 staff. It holds wellbeing webinars and uses regular staff surveys to track how employees are feeling and ensure training and support is responsive, including training for managers on mental health and managing remote teams and training for staff around resilience, emotional intelligence and mindfulness. It is also training additional Mental Health First Aiders.
The UK’s successful economic recovery will be dependent on a robust and productive workforce which is inclusive and diverse. It is crucial that women of all ages are supported in the workplace by flexible working practices which allow them to combine family and caring responsibilities with work and an empathetic environment where their health and wellbeing issues can be openly discussed. Similarly, young men, who can be the most difficult group to encourage to talk freely about mental health challenges should be encouraged by workplace cultures that will help them. Otherwise the country risks losing a huge amount of talent and significant elements of the workforce risk not fulfilling their potential.
