The sick-day text reveals everything wrong with Britain’s attitude to work, writes James Hanson

It was used to describe our failing economy, exemplified by never-ending strikes, out-of-control inflation and our need for an IMF bailout.

For all our current economic woes, the moniker isn’t used much these days - but perhaps we’re still the sick man of Europe in a different way? In fact, in a far more literal way. Because compared to almost every other developed nation, the UK’s rates of disability and long-term sickness are extraordinarily high.

A new government-commissioned investigation found that the number of 16-24 year-olds reporting health conditions that limit their ability to work increased by 77 per cent between 2015 and 2024. That’s equivalent to 1.2 million people. Nearly half of them were for mental health conditions.

Meanwhile, 11 million sick notes were issued last year, that’s 40,000 a day, 93 per cent of which declared employees unfit to work. When the Tories left office, 2,000 people a day were being signed onto out-of-work sickness benefits. Since Labour came to power, it’s more than doubled to 5,000 people a day.

The reason this matters, of course, is not just the waste of human potential - it’s the sheer economic cost. According to the Office for Budget Responsibility, the bill for Personal Independence Payments alone is forecast to double by 2030, while the total welfare budget is predicted to rise from £333bn this year to £407bn by the end of the decade.

If the figures sound scarcely believable - that’s because many of them simply aren’t. There are now twice as many people claiming PIP as six years ago, but are we seriously meant to believe the number of disabled people has doubled in that time? Has the number of young people with health conditions genuinely increased by 77 per cent in less than a decade? And are one in four adults actually disabled, as recent figures claimed - or have we simply expanded our definition of disability beyond the point of reason, where it now encompasses everyday conditions like ADHD, stress and anxiety?

I feel confident disputing these statistics because we simply don’t see the same problems in comparable OECD nations. Since the pandemic, the number of economically inactive people has returned to normal in most countries, but not in the UK. Is this because we’re a uniquely sick nation? Is there something in the water that’s making everyone ill? Or have we simply become addicted to workshy welfarism?

The benefits system is riddled with perverse disincentives. For example, if you work a standard 40-hour week on the national living wage, you’ll earn £26,463 a year. But at the same time, a household can claim up to £25,323 a year on benefits (subsidised by the taxes of the aforementioned worker on the living wage). So where is the incentive to do the right thing and pay your own way, rather than relying on state handouts?

That’s why I agree with the former John Lewis boss Charlie Mayfield, the man tasked with leading this government review, when he argues for radical changes. Among them, that employees should be forced to call their managers if they’re requesting sick leave - arguing a ‘culture of fear’, combined with the ease with which people can get signed off, has contributed to too many people falling out of work.

The status quo is failing everyone: taxpayers; employers; and those falling out of work themselves. It’s time to face reality: Brits aren’t as sick as they claim. It’s time to end the UK’s sick-note culture once and for all.

____________________

Listen to James Hanson on LBC on weekends between 4 and 7am.

LBC Opinion provides a platform for diverse opinions on current affairs and matters of public interest.

The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official LBC position.

To contact us email opinion@lbc.co.uk