The bad news: there are 2.7 million working-age adults out of work due to ill health, and the rise shows little sign of slowing.
But while economic inactivity due to retirement is important among older adults and economic inactivity among those in full-time education important to younger adults, it is economic inactivity due to long-term sickness that stands out across the age distribution. There were 2.7 million working-age adults economically inactive due to long-term sickness in November-January 2024, with this number peaking at a record-high of 2.8 million a couple of months earlier in September-November 2023. This is shown in Figure 4.
source – Guardian also The Resolution Foundation