LONG-TERM sickness has left a record number of Brits off work – with many saying they have BAD BACKS after working from home.
A staggering 2.5 million ill people are now without jobs amid spikes in workers with spinal woes and young people claiming mental health issues.
Record Brits are off work with long term sickness
More than 400,000 more people are outside of the labour market due to ill health since the start of the Covid pandemic, figures from the Office of National Statistics reveal.
Darren Morgan, from the ONS, said recent analysis shows there has been a strong rise in “problems connected to the back and neck with some theories of the increase in home working contributing to that”.
Ministers are desperate to get the cohort clocking on again as Treasury coffers creak paying for a total of 5.2 million on out of work benefits.
The figures come two months after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt brought forward reforms in his Budget to help the economically inactive including a benefits revamp and more work coaches for the disabled.
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Welfare Secretary Mel Stride last week said the basic rate of income tax could be cut by 2p if the 650,000 who left their jobs during the pandemic returned.
A stark warning was issued by experts last night saying those persistently off work are holding back the country’s growth prospects.
Chris Thomas, of the Institute for Public Policy Research, said: “Long-term sickness is fatally undermining our economy and holding back people’s ability to live long, happy and prosperous lives.”
The overall rate of unemployment rose to 3.9 per cent in the three months to March which is the highest level since January last year.
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Vacancies in the workplace also fell for the tenth consecutive quarter to 1.08 million as company bosses show reluctance on recruiting over uncertainty in the economy.
But the figures show there was a rise in the employment rate to 75.9 per cent and a fall in inactivity with more men starting to look for work.
Encouragingly, more than 100,000 early retirees under the age of 64 came back to work in the year to March.
The move is likely to be driven by double-digit inflation with rising household bills and the cost of living seeing more people back into work.
Thirty-eight thousand returned to the workforce between January and March more than double on the three months previously – potentially seeing the start of the ‘great unretirement’.
Labour said their ambitions will open up Jobcentres, support the over-50s into work and give extra support to those with ill health.
The Chancellor said: “It’s encouraging that the unemployment rate remains historically low but difficulty in finding staff and rising prices are a worry for many families and businesses.
“That’s why we must stick to our plan to halve inflation and help families with the cost of living, while delivering our childcare reforms and supporting older people and disabled people who want to work.”