What’s the best way to fix Britain’s economy? According to Labour and the Conservatives, the answer is growth. Yet this focus overlooks another fundamental reason for Britain’s sluggish productivity. The UK is unwell. Every year, 2% of its GDP – or £43bn – is lost due to poor health, according to new findings from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). More people are leaving work due to long-term health conditions and more are claiming disability benefits. So long as this persists, calling for growth will be like attempting to compete in a race while being too sick and exhausted to run.
The reasons for Britain’s ill health have been widely discussed. Poverty is a major cause. Those on low incomes are more likely to live in overcrowded housing and struggle to afford life’s essentials. If social housing was plentiful, nutritious food subsidised and heating permanently affordable, poverty would not be as harmful to health. But a decade of cuts to public services has left those on low incomes even more exposed. Meanwhile, Whitehall has focused its energies on the NHS, viewing medical treatment as the job of the state and prevention as the responsibility of individuals. Broader health has not been a government priority – a fact signalled by the cynical decision to scrap Public Health England in 2020.
An obvious solution would be ensuring people had enough money to live well, starting by benchmarking benefits to living costs. Yet the Conservatives’ preferred answer to poverty has been to force people into work. Over the last decade, as the government has reduced outlays, people have taken poorly paid, part-time jobs. Jeremy Hunt’s recent decision to abolish the current incapacity benefit paid to those out of work due to poor health risks making people more ill. While unemployment can be bad for health, low-paid work that offers little autonomy or security can be even worse, causing stress, anxiety, depression and exhaustion.
There is plenty of evidence that poor jobs are correlated with poor health. Estimates suggest that 1.8m people are living with a work-related illness in the UK (the true number may be higher). The IPPR finds that employees in sectors such as sales and care are among those most likely to experience mental and chronic illnesses. It’s notable that people who enjoy higher degrees of autonomy and status in their jobs, such as skilled trades professionals and senior managers, are less likely to experience mental health problems. The question is why so much work doesn’t offer people either of these things.
Partly it’s because the forces that once helped shield workers from poor conditions and low pay are no longer so powerful. Only 12.8% of private sector workers in the UK belong to a union, while funding cuts mean the Health and Safety Executive overlooks more serious workplace accidents than five years ago. Over the past two decades, companies have ramped up the pressure on employees, enforcing a culture of targets and metrics that has intensified the pace of work while using new technologies to monitor staff compliance. This tilting of control away from workers is not limited to those without higher qualifications. Many professionals, such as university lecturers, have also experienced its deleterious effects.
The implication is that making the UK a healthier and more prosperous country will require more than simply cutting NHS waiting lists. It will also mean addressing the causes of poor health – particularly poor jobs.
