UK faces huge job market problem - why millions stay away from work?
British job market shows troubling signs as millions stay out of workforce‚ with health issues being main reason. Government struggles to fix growing problem while EU countries show better results
The phrase “economically-inactive“ makes some people really mad - a 61-year old retiree called it a “slur“ on radio show while parents dont like seeing it on forms (since they work hard raising kids)
Liz Kendall‚ Work and Pensions boss thinks its terrible: this term for people aged 16-64 who arent working or seeking jobs needs a re-think. However focusing on words isnt fixing the real issue - getting folks back to work
Numbers show big troubles: employment is at 74.8% while Rachel Reeves wants it at 80%. About 9m working-age people stay home; many due to health problems. Since early-2020 inactive numbers grew by 900‚000 with long-term sickness being main reason
Young people face extra-hard times: record numbers of 16-24 year olds dont work study or seek jobs. Mental-health problems hit them badly (which makes everything worse since research shows even 1 day of work per week helps mental state)
The UK stands alone with these problems; EU countries actually lowered their inactive numbers by 2.3% since pandemic while UKʼs went up 1.1%. Matthew Taylor from NHS group says: young adults see work-life very negatively. Empty offices dont help - many young workers feel sad seeing no-one at workplace
Money-wise its a huge problem: economists say inactive population (same size as Switzerlandʼs whole population) costs taxpayers 16bn pounds yearly through lost taxes and benefits costs
