Vast swathes of the British workforce have been put out to pasture.
Official data published last week by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) tell a grim story of modern Britain.
The official UK unemployment figure of 1.3million, which is relatively low by recent historical standards, is only a small part of this story. The really significant figure is the huge additional number of working-age people whom the state deems incapable of working due to ill-health. This figure now sits at 2.8million, having risen by some 700,000 in the two years since the Covid pandemic. Furthermore, we’ve also learned that two-thirds of those citing ill-health as a reason for their inability to work say they are suffering specifically from mental-health problems, sometimes in combination with physical conditions. Given that 20,000 more benefits claimants citing mental ill-health are being added to the rolls each month, this proportion is only likely to grow.
