The Keep Britain Working review highlights the crisis of people leaving the labour market because of poor health (Fixing Britain’s worklessness crisis will cost employers £6bn a year, report says, 5 November). Its call for employers to improve occupational health support and early intervention is welcome, but it risks missing the bigger issue: work itself.
For too long, the UK has subsidised poor work. Public authorities have awarded contracts to employers that pay low wages, offer insecure hours and provide little support when people fall ill. The state then picks up the cost in welfare, lost tax and pressure on the NHS. That’s not a sustainable economy, it’s a subsidy for failure.
