The number of economically inactive people aged over 50 who are out of work due to long-term sickness has increased by 20% in the past three years, according to new analysis from Rest Less.
Rest Less is a digital community and advocate for people aged over 50. It analysed a bespoke dataset from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) which compares the reasons for economic inactivity by age group in July-September 2019 and July-September 2022.
Rest Less’s analysis found that the number of economically inactive people aged 50+ due to long-term sickness increased from 1.35 million in July-September 2019 to 1.62m in the same time period in 2022 – an increase of 270,000 or 20%.
Exploring the reasons for economic inactivity, Rest Less’s analysis of the ONS data shows that for 50 to 64 year olds, pre-state pension age, the main reason for economic inactivity was long-term sickness or disability (1.38 million), followed by retirement (1.16m), followed by looking after family (535,000).
Stuart Lewis, Chief Executive of Rest Less, commented: “We know that economic inactivity due to long-term sickness is something the government is finally taking seriously, and action is well overdue. A rise in long-term ill health has significantly reduced the size of the UKs potential workforce amongst all ages since the pandemic, but it is a particularly large driver of the reduction in available workers in their 50s and 60s.
‘Of the 2.8 million people out of work due to long-term sickness, nearly 60% are aged over 50. Not only is this a national health issue with thousands of people suffering silently, but it’s increasingly an economic issue too – not least because many of these people want to work in some capacity, if the right opportunities were available to them.
‘It’s time to provide targeted support to struggling businesses to enable them to offer more flexible working opportunities as well as high quality training programmes to ensure workers of all ages can continue to develop their career. Financial incentives to individuals and employers, such as reducing the age at which employer and employee National Insurance contributions are no longer payable at, from 66 to 56 would also help encourage large scale corporate investment in the hiring, training and retention of older workers.”
