More people in the UK are leaving their jobs because of long-term sickness, something that has not happened since the 1990s, a new study showed.

Research from the independent think-tank Resolution Foundation shows that the number of people who did not work due to poor health increased from 2.1 million in 2019 to a peak of 2.8 million in October 2023.

Experts are calling it the “longest sustained rise” for that particular statistic since 1994-1998 when the data was first recorded.

The Resolution Foundation’s findings come just a few short days after the country’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that more than one in five working-age Britons were not actively looking for a job.

Poor health hits younger and older workers

Worklessness affects the entire age spectrum, with both the oldest and youngest members having the highest number of out-of-work individuals due to poor health, according to the study. In fact, younger and older Britons account for nine-tenths of the increase in overall economic inactivity,

Louise Murphy, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation, believes this inactivity could severely impact people’s living standards and career paths.

Countries around the world are still reeling from the negative effects of the Covid pandemic on their economies. However, many industries have made significant strides toward recovery.

The Resolution Foundation’s findings suggest that the UK is the only G7 economy that has yet to bounce back from pre-pandemic employment rates because of the increase in long-term sickness leaves.

“Britain’s labour market is finally returning to normal, but the Covid-19 pandemic has left an alarming legacy of the longest sustained rise in sickness-related inactivity since the 1990s,” Murphy said.

Despite this grim statistic, the report did underline an improvement in economic inactivity rates, which slightly decreased to 2.7 million in December 2023.

The Foundation’s researchers pointed out the upward trend in long-term sickness rates began before the Covid pandemic, during the summer of 2019. This has lasted for 54 months.

This last happened between 1994 and 1998, when the longest period of health-related economic inactivity was recorded at 55 months.

Increase in personal independence payment claims

Researchers also examined records from the Department of Work and Pension (DWP) regarding the number of disability benefit claims. They found that rates for personal independence payment (Pip) claims increased by 68% between 2020 and 2024.

The number of new Pip claims from workers belonging to the 16-17 age range rose by as much as 138%, according to data.

If this keeps up, the researchers warned that it could result in “wider strains on the NHS and welfare spending if we fail to improve the nation's health and reduce economic inactivity”.

Another examination of DWP data related to Work Capability Assessments showed that many of the workers cited mental health problems (69%) and musculoskeletal problems (48%) as reasons for the benefit claims.

"Our plan for the economy is working. Inflation [the rate at which prices rise] is down to 3.4%, employment is up, the number of people on payrolls is at a record high, and inactivity is falling” the DWP said through its spokesperson.

"We've reduced the number of workless households by one million since 2010. Our £2.5 billion Back to Work plan will help break down barriers to work for over a million more people and our recent Budget measures are estimated to boost the labour force by an extra 300,000 workers."

Combating economic inactivity

In November, the British government laid out several reforms to help address the issue of long-term economic inactivity. The current plan includes adopting stricter fit-to-work tests, providing support for job seekers, and scrapping the Work Capability Assessment.

“We will reform the work capability assessment to reflect greater flexibility and availability of home working after the pandemic,” said Jeremy Hunt, Chancellor of the Exchequer.

“We will spend £1.3bn over the next five years to help nearly 700,000 people with health conditions find jobs.”