Economic Inactivity Due to Long-Term Illness Could Rise to 4.3 Million, Says Think Tank

A think tank has predicted that if current trends continue, the number of people economically inactive due to sickness could hit 4.3 million in five years—an increase of more than 50 percent from 2.8 million today. The Institute for Public Policy Research’s (IPPR) report published on Tuesday examined the absence trends from before the COVID-19 lockdowns and compared them to the number of people off work due to long-term sickness at the start of 2024. They found that an estimated 900,000 people are missing from the workforce, “above what we would have otherwise expected on pre-pandemic trends.” This translates to an estimated lost tax receipts totalling almost £5 billion, researchers said....