Long-term Sickness top reason for economic inactivity among women, TUC finds
Colin Thompson
Managing Partner Cavendish/Author/International Speaker/Mentor/Partner
Experts stress there are ‘deep systemic issues’ preventing female employees from remaining in work
The number of women who are economically inactive because of long-term sickness has risen by 48 per cent in the past five years, according to research by the TUC.
It has now become the most common reason for women to be out of work, with figures reaching 1.54 million – the highest number since records began, according to the union.
The TUC’s analysis of Office for National Statistics data and the Labour Force Survey also revealed the rise has been larger among women than men in the past five years, with the number of men economically inactive as a result of ill-health increasing by 37 per cent.
Clare Knox, CEO of See Her Thrive, told People Management: “These findings point to deeper systemic issues: women frequently face lower job quality and insufficient workplace support, making it harder to stay employed when health challenges arise.”
She also highlighted that the research was “a reminder of how health issues like menstrual disorders and menopause are often overlooked”.
Bernard Yew, medical director at PAM OH, told People Management that “the extra pressures on women outside of work compared to men, who tend to be less likely to be the primary carer for their families”, could be leading to higher rates of mental health problems for women compared to men.
“Employers that failed to design job roles with the necessary flexibility for women to accommodate those pressures, against a backdrop of reduced access to NHS support, were inevitably going to see more women fall out of work because of ill health,” he said.
The largest increase in ill-health was in the ‘other’ category, which increased by 138 per cent, while the number of women with musculoskeletal (MSK) issues that prevented them from working rose by 47 per cent.
Economic inactivity among women caused by depression, anxiety and mental illness increased by a quarter (27 per cent).
The TUC attributed these rises to long NHS waiting lists and cuts to preventative services, with its analysis demonstrating a 15 per cent increase in waiting lists between October 2022 and March 2024, to 1.05 million.
Nick Pahl, CEO of the Society of Occupational Medicine, said the increase in long-term sickness as a cause of economic inactivity for women “pre-dated Covid”, and that poor job quality had led to women being unable to continue working when faced with health challenges.
“More women than men are paid below the real living wage and are more likely to do insecure work and receive low pay,” he told People Management.
David Williams, head of group risk at Towergate Health & Protection, said people leaving work as a result of MSK and mental health issues was “often avoidable” as support services through employee benefits had “never been more powerful or readily available”.
However, he continued: “Since many employees don’t have access to these benefits, or do have them but don’t know they exist, they are left to wait too long on NHS waiting lists.
“This not only potentially lengthens their absence duration but likely also makes them harder to treat because the sooner you address these issues the easier they are to resolve; delaying treatment can mean symptoms exacerbate and become more complex and costly to treat.”
Dr Wolfgang Seidl, partner at Mercer, told People Management that there were “fundamental issues with investment in women’s health”, adding that women were twice as likely as men to get the wrong diagnosis after a heart attack because of lack of awareness of the symptoms they experience.
He said a lack of psychological safety in workplaces meant “women don’t feel able to open up about health, or other concerns, without fear of recrimination, discrimination or ridicule. This also makes them less likely to want to return to work with reasonable adjustments once they have a diagnosable health condition.
“Employers that want to reduce the number of women falling out of work because of ill health must look at the wider cultural and diversity and inclusion issues at play. For example, it’s not enough to provide menopause support; [this needs to be] coupled with ways of making this affordable and ensuring asking for this help doesn’t become a barrier to career progression.”
The CIPD has a range of wellbeing resources available on its website
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