Britain has become the “sick man of Europe” and the number of economically inactive adults is likely to hit 4.3 million by the end of this term, a major report warns.
Health challenges have reached “historic proportions” and the crisis is seriously hampering economic prosperity, a group of experts says.
As increasing numbers of people miss work due to long-term illness, better health is “the most important medicine our economy needs for faster growth,” the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) added.
The country’s sick leave culture has accelerated since the pandemic, with NHS waiting lists soaring to record levels and more people suffering from mental and/or physical illness.
The think tank’s research suggests that at the start of this year there were 900,000 more people out of work due to long-term illness than would have been the case if trends had continued at their pre-pandemic pace.
The number of economically inactive adults in Britain is likely to hit 4.3 million by the end of this term, a new report warns
Wes Streeting declared war on sick leave in Britain in his first speech as health secretary, promising to get people off benefits and NHS waiting lists and back to work.
Better healthcare could save the NHS £18bn a year, while the 900,000 “missing workers” could have caused a loss of tax revenue of up to £4.5bn by 2023, it concluded.
“If the growth rate continues at the same pace as since 2020, we expect economic inactivity due to illness to reach 4.3 million by the end of this legislative period,” the researchers said. This figure is up from the current 2.8 million.
The IPPR report says: “The term ‘the sick man of Europe’ is often used to describe countries experiencing severe economic turmoil or social unrest. In Britain today, it has become a more literal reality.
‘We are lagging behind our peers on health outcomes, the number of people with chronic conditions is increasing and people are spending more time in poor health. In addition, health is declining throughout life, posing real challenges for children, adolescents, working-age adults and retirees.
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‘The country’s health challenges have reached historic proportions.’
The authors say that improving population health could be an “innovative strategy to revitalize the economy.”
“Better health will only be possible if we move from a disease-centered model of health policy to a health-creating model,” they wrote. Such a model could “focus intervention on the places where people actually spend their time” — work, school, home and communities.
The IPPR said the “health creation model” could add ten years to healthy life expectancy by 2055.
Chris Thomas of IPPR said: “Founding a health creation system is a way of reimagining health policy, bringing it into the 21st century.”
