Is ill-health holding back the UK economy? – podcast
Growing numbers of people are leaving the jobs market because of long-term illnesses. It’s coming at a huge personal and national cost, says economics editor Larry Elliott
New figures from the Office for National Statistics suggest there are 2.8 million people classified as not looking for work because of health issues – up from the 2.6 million previously estimated and a one-third increase on the 2.1 million before the Covid-19 pandemic.
As the Guardian’s economics editor, Larry Elliott, tells Hannah Moore, this is a shocking rise and each of those people will have individual and often complex circumstances. There is no easy fix. But it is a situation that has not appeared out of nowhere: while the Covid pandemic has clearly had a huge effect on physical and mental health, many of the underlying trends have been clear for decades. And NHS waiting lists have tripled in length since the Conservatives took over in 2010.