The UK’s inactivity rate, which rose during the pandemic, could have been even higher had the cost-of-living crisis not pushed people back into work, according to official analysis.
(Bloomberg) — The UK’s inactivity rate, which rose during the pandemic, could have been even higher had the cost-of-living crisis not pushed people back into work, according to official analysis.
The proportion of 16 to 64-year-olds who are economically inactive, or out of work and not looking for a job, climbed from 21.23% to 21.68% between 2019 and 2022, according to the Office for National Statistics.
But this 0.45 percentage-point rise, which has created labor shortages and contributed to double-digit inflation, would have hit 0.63 percentage point had it not been for the fact that more healthy people went back into the workforce.
“A rise in the prevalence of work-limiting health conditions was the largest contributing factor to the rise in the economic inactivity rate over the period 2019 to 2022,” the ONS report released Friday said.
In 2022, it added, work-limiting health problems affected 7.5 million people or 18.1% of the working-age population, up from 16.4% in 2019.
Read more: Long-Term Sickness Is Costing the UK Economy £43 Billion a Year
Although the inactivity rate of these sick people had barely changed, the ONS said, “the prevalence of work-limiting health conditions in the population has risen, and this group’s substantially higher inactivity rates serve to increase the overall inactivity rate among the population as a whole.”
Inactivity is also being driven up by an aging population, as older Britons tend to be less likely to work. As the last of the “baby boomers” enter their 60s, the ONS said, this is pushing up the overall rate.
The ONS data gives little insight as to what conditions are driving the rise in health problems. It categorizes people’s illnesses into four broad categories: cardiovascular and digestive problems, mental health problems, musculoskeletal problems, and other problems and disabilities.
It is this final category, which includes progressive illness not otherwise classified and learning difficulties and autism, which is responsible for most of the rise in people reporting work-limiting health problems.
It is possible that a rise in Covid-related respiratory problems, and “long-Covid” which includes symptoms such as fatigue, could be adding to these numbers.
Earlier this week, the ONS reported that a record 2.55 million people were unable to work in the three months to March due to long-term sickness. The numbers differ from those used in Friday’s report, which focuses on self-reported health conditions rather than the primary reason given for inactivity. The 7.5 million people with work-limiting conditions also includes people who do have jobs.
Read more:
- UK Labor Market Softens Even as Wages Continue to March Higher
- UK Bosses Offer IVF, Menopause Benefits to Tempt Women to Work
- Rising Staff Sickness Rates Pile More Pressure on UK Firms
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