Record 2.5m off work with long-term sickness amid NHS backlog
A RECORD 2.5m people are now out of work because of long-term sickness as backlogs in the NHS and a mental health hangover from the pandemic continue to hobble the economy.
The number of people who are out of work because of long-term sickness surged by 235,000 year on year to hit a new record high in the three months to March, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Almost half a million more people are now struggling with illness than before the pandemic began.
The ONS did not speculate on the reason, but experts believe the surge has been caused by treatment backlogs in the NHS and a surge in mental health problems since the pandemic.
Chris Thomas, head of the Institute for Public Policy Research’s commission on health and prosperity, said: “Long-term sickness is fatally undermining our economy and holding back people’s ability to live long, happy and prosperous lives.”
It comes as the figures also revealed that more than half a million working days were lost to strikes in March – despite the fact that public sector pay climbed at the fastest pace in 20 years.
Junior doctors, nurses, civil servants and transport workers all walked out in protest over pay. A total of 556,000 working days were lost to industrial action in March, up from 332,000 in February. Salaries in the public sector were up by 5.6pc between January and March. This was the biggest jump since 2003. In the private sector, average regular pay rose by 7pc.
However, neither increase was enough to offset the blow of doubledigit inflation. In real terms, average total pay fell by 3pc, while regular pay fell by 2pc.
Darren Morgan, ONS director of economic statistics, said: “Despite continued growth in pay, people’s average earnings are still being outstripped by rising prices.” Unemployment rose to 3.9pc, a rise of 0.1 percentage points since February and slightly higher than the consensus forecast of 3.8pc among City analysts.
Nearly 100,000 early retirees have returned to work as the cost of living crisis forced many to reassess how much money they need to live comfortably. The number under 64 who are in retirement fell by 93,000 in the 12 months to March, the ONS said. There are now just over 1m working age people in early retirement, the ONS said, which was the lowest number since 1994.
Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the figures showed “a full reversal” of the rise in early retirement seen during the pandemic. Stephen Lowe, of retirement specialist Just Group, said: “The cost of living crisis may force people back into work to top up their income and pension.”
The trend of people giving up on early retirement – dubbed the “great unretirement” by observers – has been accelerating, with 38,000 people returning to the workforce between January and March, compared to 15,000 between October to December last year.
The numbers will be cheered by Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, who made a push to get early retirees back in jobs a key part of his Budget in March. The data published yesterday only cover the period until the end of March.
As well as early retirees, the ONS figures show tens of thousands of other economically inactive people have also sought out jobs in recent months.
A total of 63,000 people rejoined the workforce by the end of March.
Mr Tombs said the shift was a response to the cost of living crisis and was likely to continue.