The puzzle of UK’s half a million missing workers

For the archetypal time, much than 2.5 cardinal radical successful the UK are retired of enactment due to the fact that of a semipermanent wellness problem. The fig has jumped by fractional a cardinal since the commencement of the pandemic - but, BBC News investigation reveals, the interaction is dispersed unevenly crossed the country, with immoderate regions and types of occupation acold much affected.

For Mary Starling, determination are bully days and atrocious days.

The 61-year-old is connected beardown painkillers, for arthritis. She needs a genu replacement - but that could mean different 18 months connected an NHS waiting list.

"I consciousness despair - but I'm resigned to it," she says. "I recognize it isn't imaginable to magic up something, though it's wearing not being capable to program my life."

Mary, a erstwhile caregiver who aboriginal worked for the World Health Organization, has already had 7 genu operations.

She gave up full-time enactment successful 2004 but continued successful part-time and voluntary roles until the symptom became excessively much.

Mary is keen to instrumentality to that enactment - but needs her cognition first.

"My occupation was a immense portion of my beingness and I miss it," she says.

"I miss the camaraderie - and I miss being useful, successful a sense."

Something unusual seems to beryllium affecting the UK workforce.

The state is successful its 4th twelvemonth of sharply rising chronic illness.

The highest rates are among 50- to 64-year-olds - but determination person besides been important increases successful immoderate younger groups.

Although the nexus is not conclusive, the Bank of England has said grounds NHS waiting lists are apt to beryllium playing a "significant role".

Some of the largest increases are successful radical reporting mobility difficulties, specified arsenic limb and backmost problems, oregon bosom and blood-pressure problems.

More younger people, successful particular, accidental they are not successful enactment due to the fact that of antithetic forms of intelligence illness.

And abstracted NHS waiting-list information for England paints a akin representation - with lengthy delays for genu and hep replacements, cardiac country and assemblage mental-health care.

But the largest summation successful semipermanent sickness is successful the catch-all "other wellness problems" category, apt to see immoderate of those with "long Covid" symptoms.

Patrick Dumayne, a milk-tanker operator by trade, caught the microorganism successful July 2020.

"For a while, I started to retrieve - and then, I went downhill again rapidly," helium says.

As helium works retired astatine a gym successful Welshpool, Powys, the 54-year-old's breathing is inactive laboured.

"At the worst point, I was suicidal. I americium a 6ft-tall motortruck operator and biker - and I conscionable sat down astatine the extremity of the furniture and broke down," Patrick says.

"A large portion of that was not being capable to enactment - some the finances and not having that regular each day. It was genuinely horrible."

Patrick has been receiving enactment from the Welsh authorities and present plans to get backmost down the instrumentality aboriginal adjacent year.

Both agelong waiting lists and agelong Covid are portion of the problem, autarkic foundation the Health Foundation says - but arsenic sickness rates began rising a twelvemonth earlier the pandemic, they are improbable to beryllium the main causes.

BBC News investigation of ONS Annual Population Survey (APS) information shows ample variations successful sickness, with precocious - and rising - rates among radical who precocious worked successful transportation, retail oregon hospitality.

Jobs requiring much carnal effort are much apt to pb to leg, backmost and different musculoskeletal disorders. While successful solitary jobs, loneliness tin beryllium a existent problem.

Every year, 1 successful 4 motortruck drivers experiences mental-health issues, according to the Road Haulage Association.

"It doesn't assistance that roadside facilities are often mediocre and erstwhile they bash find determination to propulsion up for the night, they're faced with unhealthy nutrient choices," the association's Sally Gilson says.

Workers successful lower-paid, manual jobs thin to person poorer wellness and beingness expectancy successful the archetypal place. The reasons for this are complex, taking successful everything from fare and smoking, to entree to GPs, to the prime of section lodging and greenish spaces.

The interest - from the Health Foundation and others - is the pandemic mightiness person worsened immoderate of these underlying wellness inequalities.

BBC News investigation of the latest ONS data, up to June 2022, besides reveals stark differences crossed the country.

The highest semipermanent sickness rates are successful Northern Ireland, north-east England and Wales.

But successful London, which has a younger population, the numbers person really fallen 3% since the commencement of the pandemic.

The largest rises were successful the parts of the Midlands, south-east England and Wales. The East Midlands unsocial has seen a 21% jump, to a grounds 176,400 people.

Many of the 50- to 64-year-olds present reporting sick wellness arsenic the main crushed for being disconnected enactment person already been retired of the jobs marketplace for respective years for different reasons, specified arsenic aboriginal status oregon caring responsibilities, Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) probe suggests.

But the authorities inactive has 2 chiseled problems - however to:

"This is simply a superior change," IFS probe economist Beatrice Boileau says.

"And immoderate argumentation that lone looks astatine 1 of those issues is not going to beryllium successful."

A authorities reappraisal into workforce participation, ordered by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, is owed to study backmost aboriginal adjacent year.

Minister for Disabled People Tom Pursglove said: "It is wide a heathier, much productive workforce is cardinal to driving maturation and tackling inactivity.

"Government and employers indispensable enactment unneurotic to unlock endowment for those who whitethorn beryllium facing wellness barriers."

Data visualisation by Liana Bravo and Nassos Stylianou.