Britain’s long-term sickness crisis has been fuelled by a surge in depression after lockdowns, official data shows.
Mental health problems were the single largest cause for being off work amongst those who have dropped out of the labour force due to long-term sickness, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Between the starts of 2019 and 2023, the number of economically inactive working adults who have depression or anxiety has jumped by 40pc to hit 1.35 million – 386,000 more than before the pandemic began.
In the first three months of 2023, 315,000 people said depression or anxiety was their main reason for being unable to work. A further 320,000 cited other mental illnesses or phobias.
An additional 1 million said depression or anxiety was their secondary reason for being unable to work – a 50pc jump compared to the start of 2019.
Jon Boys, senior labour market economist for the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (Cipd), said: “It is coming into starker and starker relief that the UK population is sicker and this is a problem.”
He warned: “Unfortunately for a large number of those people, particularly if they are closer to retirement age, it will be much more difficult for them to get back into work. So they may be lost forever.”
More than 2.5 million people are economically inactive because of long-term sickness – 412,000 more than at the start of the pandemic.
There has also been a large increase in the number of people off work who have multiple health problems.
Of those who are economically inactive due to long-term sickness, 937,000 people had at least five health conditions – 42pc more than before the pandemic.
The blow of Covid has been three-fold. First, it has left its own legacy of health problems. “For the people who didn’t die, many of them were severely maimed by it,” Mr Boys said.
The most common combination of health conditions was people who said their primary condition was “other” and also had depression or anxiety. This could have a direct correlation with long Covid, which the ONS said fell into the “other” category.
Successive lockdowns also hit people’s mental well-being. “There is no doubt that the pandemic took a toll on people’s mental health,” Mr Boys said.
Between 2019 and 2023, the share of people off work because they are long-term sick who had depression or anxiety rose from 48pc to 53pc.
At the same time, the strain on the health service during the pandemic means waiting times for treatments, consultations and even GPs have ballooned. When people cannot access treatment quickly, their conditions get worse.