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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Mental health sick days soar by 5m in just a year
Britons took an extra 5m sick days for mental health reasons last year after a surge in conditions including stress, anxiety and depression. Staff took a record 20.5m days off because of mental health in 2024, according to the Office for National Statistics, up from 14.8m in 2023. This accounted for 13.7pc of all sick days taken in Britain, the highest proportion since 2019. Jamie O'Halloran, senior research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research, said the figures reflect 'the tip of the iceberg' as many employees continue working even when they are unwell. He said: 'We must do more to prevent avoidable ill health and create workplaces that support people with health conditions to get into – and stay in – work. 'The lack of progress on mental health is particularly alarming and must become a greater priority for both public health policy and employer strategy.' Poor mental health appears to be more prevalent in the public sector, where it accounted for 16.4pc of absences last year – compared with 6.7pc in the private sector. There has been a surge in diagnoses of mental health conditions such as anxiety and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Overall ill health is also more problematic in the public sector, where it accounts for an absence rate of 2.9pc compared with 1.8pc for private companies. The latest figures also show that it is not only those in work taking time off because of sickness. The number of people of working age who are economically inactive – neither in work nor looking for a job – because of ill health has surged to 2.8m, up from 2.1m before the Covid pandemic. In total, workers took 149m sick days in 2024, which is down 10pc on the previous year. The number of days taken for minor illnesses dropped by a third to 33m, while workers took 26.5m days for musculoskeletal problems, roughly the same as 2023. The overall sickness rate, which charts absences as a share of all working hours, fell to 2pc. As a result the proportion of sick days is back to its pre-pandemic level. Sam Atwell, at the Health Foundation, a charity, said sick employees must be supported to prevent them from dropping out of work altogether. 'Employers and government alike should be concerned by these findings as extended or repeated episodes of sickness absence can be a warning sign that an employee is at risk of leaving the workforce and becoming economically inactive,' he said. 'Employers have a key role to play in ensuring that workers are provided with adequate sick pay and are actively supported during sickness absence. 'Our analysis shows that the UK statutory sick pay rate is among the least generous across all OECD countries. 'Workers without occupational sick pay are at a greater risk of either working through illness or leaving work altogether.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Mental health sick days soar by 5m in just a year
Britons took an extra 5m sick days for mental health reasons last year after a surge in conditions including stress, anxiety and depression. Staff took a record 20.5m days off because of mental health in 2024, according to the Office for National Statistics, up from 14.8m in 2023. This accounted for 13.7pc of all sick days taken in Britain, the highest proportion since 2019. Jamie O'Halloran, senior research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research, said the figures reflect 'the tip of the iceberg' as many employees continue working even when they are unwell. He said: 'We must do more to prevent avoidable ill health and create workplaces that support people with health conditions to get into – and stay in – work. 'The lack of progress on mental health is particularly alarming and must become a greater priority for both public health policy and employer strategy.' Poor mental health appears to be more prevalent in the public sector, where it accounted for 16.4pc of absences last year – compared with 6.7pc in the private sector. There has been a surge in diagnoses of mental health conditions such as anxiety and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Overall ill health is also more problematic in the public sector, where it accounts for an absence rate of 2.9pc compared with 1.8pc for private companies. The latest figures also show that it is not only those in work taking time off because of sickness. The number of people of working age who are economically inactive – neither in work nor looking for a job – because of ill health has surged to 2.8m, up from 2.1m before the Covid pandemic. In total, workers took 149m sick days in 2024, which is down 10pc on the previous year. The number of days taken for minor illnesses dropped by a third to 33m, while workers took 26.5m days for musculoskeletal problems, roughly the same as 2023. The overall sickness rate, which charts absences as a share of all working hours, fell to 2pc. As a result the proportion of sick days is back to its pre-pandemic level. Sam Atwell, at the Health Foundation, a charity, said sick employees must be supported to prevent them from dropping out of work altogether. 'Employers and government alike should be concerned by these findings as extended or repeated episodes of sickness absence can be a warning sign that an employee is at risk of leaving the workforce and becoming economically inactive,' he said. 'Employers have a key role to play in ensuring that workers are provided with adequate sick pay and are actively supported during sickness absence. 'Our analysis shows that the UK statutory sick pay rate is among the least generous across all OECD countries. 'Workers without occupational sick pay are at a greater risk of either working through illness or leaving work altogether.' Sign in to access your portfolio
Spectator
30-05-2025
- Business
- Spectator
Starmer's welfare cuts are nothing like ‘Tory austerity'
Keir Starmer has already folded on the winter fuel payment, promising a partial reversal of the policy by reinstating it for pensioners in receipt of pension credit. How much longer before the proposed £4.8 billion cuts to welfare benefits go the same way? This morning, the Health Foundation think tank has issued a pronouncement that will be a red rag to critics of Labour's welfare cuts: that the effect of Starmer's reform of disability benefits will be four times as great as changes proposed by the Conservatives before the election and on a similar scale to George Osborne's benefits cuts of 2015. Those cuts, announced in Osborne's July budget of that year, after the Conservatives had unexpectedly been returned with a 15-seat majority, ending the coalition with the Lib Dems, were designed to save £9 billion over four years. Osborne's benefits cap, which was supposed to limit the amount any household could receive in benefits to £26,000, was cut to £23,000 in London and £20,000 elsewhere.
Entrepreneur
22-05-2025
- Health
- Entrepreneur
Drawing the Line Under Mental Health
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. You're reading Entrepreneur United Kingdom, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. According to The Health Foundation, mental illness is 'now the most common cause of work-limiting conditions amongst those aged 44 years and younger'. They also highlight that in 22/23, 875,000 employees suffered work-related stress, anxiety or depression, leaving the UK economy losing 17.1 million working days. With 85.5% of 35-49 year olds making up the largest population of our workplaces, this has to be a concern for any organisation looking to gain a competitive advantage and deliver the very best performance. But should entrepreneurs heading businesses and organisations be responsible for looking after the mental health of employees? How far do they go, before being seen as 'overstepping' work boundaries? Having trained mental health first aiders and having the materials to support employees, must be seen as beneficial. Yet despite many businesses implementing initiatives and services, we are not seeing any substantial improvements in mental health. Why? There's a risk that some employees are beginning to see the support being offered for mental health - as 'compensating' for the work environment being created. The long hours culture, required to be 'always on', and back-to-back meetings resulting in catching up on work in the evenings and weekends. The way in which many of us are now working, isn't working, and unless we fundamentally address this, little will change. The drive for improving profitability has meant that many workplaces are being operated with lean structures, presenting many single points of failure. Many organisations have managed to attract and retain highly committed, loyal and dedicated employees, and herein lies the challenge. These employees, due to their commitment and dedication, are working the longer hours, and doing more with less, to get their jobs done. Their dedication and commitment is masking the shortfalls in actual resources required be asked of them by business leaders. Whilst many people hated those age-old 'time-in-motion' audits, which you don't hear about anymore, has subsequently resulted in a lack of data. What's commonplace, is the science behind better understanding the resources needed to fulfil the job, has been replaced by an annual uplift in sales and an annual reduction in resources. There's no doubt that AI will help improve the world of work, but this doesn't absolve a company for not understanding the resources required for the work they are employing people to do, or, resolve the gap being filled through goodwill. The pursuit of measuring engagement, therefore, seems as strong as ever, yet the courage to remodel the way we work seems a long way off. The advances in AI are constantly being highlighted as the saviour that will change the way we work, but according to the ONS, the average weekly hours of full-time staff over the last 10 years has only dropped by 48 minutes. Many organisations may argue that there's only so much they can do to support employee mental health. But what isn't being reviewed well enough is whether our workplaces are adding to poor mental health. According to the WHO, ways to protect mental health include training managers and individuals to recognise symptoms and respond appropriately. But training doesn't address the root cause. This is not to say that our workplaces are causing mental health issues, but if the way in which our businesses are structured and operate is exacerbating mental illness, trained managers will do little to help. The cynicism from employees that mental health initiatives are implemented to keep companies productive and to keep generating profits, highlights another challenge. Despite them spending money on revamping their values, mission statements, and showing the world how much they care, the true test for employees is alignment… Are companies making decisions based on their values? Are leaders behaving in ways that demonstrate and align to what the organisation says is important? The true test of how much an organisation cares is when it aligns its actions and decision-making to its company values. With Gallup's latest report showing engagement levels dropping globally, and managers' scores dropping the most, one has to question the cultures we are creating. The same report shows that only a third of employees feel they are 'thriving in their lives overall'. This combined with the latest insights from the Edelman Trust Barometer, showing that '61% of respondents have a moderate or higher sense of grievance, believing that government and businesses make their lives harder and serve narrow interests', shows that trust in business to truly care and look out for employees could be significantly challenged. Can organisations draw a line under mental health and accept there is little they can do, and acknowledge their role is not to make up for government resources to help society? If companies had no negative impact on mental health, one might argue that this could be one perspective that many might agree with. However, until we face into the challenge of understanding the demands our workplaces are having on people, with the resources provided, and understanding the impact of our current ways of working, we cannot argue this point. Companies will need to fundamentally review their business models and factor out the goodwill, which is adding to the stress and anxiety of many employees at work, who through their commitment and dedication, are plugging the gap, resulting in increased levels of personal stress and anxiety.
The Guardian
19-05-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
UK ‘the sick person of the wealthy world' amid increase in deaths from drugs and violence
The UK is becoming 'the sick person of the wealthy world' because of the growing number of people dying from drugs, suicide and violence, research has found. Death rates among under-50s in the UK have got worse in recent years compared with many other rich countries, an international study shows. While mortality from cancer and heart disease has decreased, the number of deaths from injuries, accidents and poisonings has gone up, and got much worse for use of illicit drugs. The trends mean Britain is increasingly out of step with other well-off nations, most of which have had improvements in the numbers of people dying from such causes. The increase in drug-related deaths has been so dramatic that the rate of them occuring in the UK was three times higher in 2019 – among both sexes – than the median of 21 other countries studied. The findings are contained in a report by the Health Foundation thinktank, based on an in-depth study of health and death patterns in the 22 nations by academics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). 'The UK's health is fraying,' they concluded. The UK's rising mortality is especially evident among people of working age, aged 25 to 49. Deaths among women that age rose by 46% and among men by 31%, between 1990 and 2023. In contrast, mortality has fallen in 19 of the 21 other countries studied, with only the US and Canada showing the same rise as the UK. Britain now has the fourth highest overall female mortality and sixth highest overall male mortality rate among the 22 nations. The US topped both league tables. Jennifer Dixon, the Health Foundation's chief executive, said: 'This report is a health check we can't afford to ignore – and the diagnosis is grim. 'The UK is becoming the sick person of the wealthy world, especially for people of working age. While other nations moved forward, we stalled – and in some areas slipped badly behind.' Dixon pointed out the improvement in UK death rates since 1990 slowed significantly during the 2010s, with the austerity policies pursued by the coalition government after 2010 a significant factor. Smoking, alcohol misuse and bad diet also help explain Britain's increasingly sick population. By 2023, women in the UK had a 14% higher death rate than the median in the other countries, while among men of all ages it was 9%. Prof David Leon, who led the research at LSHTM, said: 'What is particularly disturbing about our findings is that the risk of dying among adults in the prime of life – those who have not yet got to the age of 50 – has been increasing in the UK for over a decade, while in most other countries it has declined. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion 'This is shocking as most mortality between the ages of 25 and 49 years is in principle avoidable.' Office for National Statistics figures show that 5,448 people died as a result of drug poisoning in England and Wales in 2023 – 11% up on the year before and the highest figure since records began in 1993. The rate of such deaths in 2023 – 93 per million population – was double the 43.5 per 100,000 that occurred as recently as 2012, which underlines the sharp increase in drug mortality. Mortality due to suicide has also risen but alcohol-related deaths plateaued for women and fell for men between 2009 and 2019, the thinktank found. The Local Government Association and WithYou, a drugs charity, called for the government to make it easier for drug users, people close to them and health professionals to access and use naloxone, an emergency antidote to overdoses involving heroin, methadone and other drugs. Robin Pollard, WithYou's head of policy and influencing, said: 'We also know getting people into structured treatment is critical to reduce the numbers of drug deaths, and so we continue to call for easier access to higher-quality opiate substitution treatment.' A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'Every death from the misuse of drugs is a tragedy. This government is committed to reducing drug-related deaths and supporting more people into recovery to live healthier, longer lives. We remain on high alert to emerging drug threats, including from synthetic opioids.' In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@ or jo@ In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at
