UK should prioritise health and wellbeing to boost economic growth: IPPR

The UK has become “the literal sick man of Europe”, with long-term health conditions rising, economic inactivity increasing and a growing mental health crisis, said the final report from the IPPR Commission on Health and Prosperity at the end of three years of research into the interaction between health and the economy.

The IPPR report calls for a more proactive approach to healthcare, with employers playing a key role in the wellbeing of their workers. Photograph: iStock/katleho seisa

“The UK’s worsening public health crisis is linked to our faltering economic performance,” concluded the IPPR, adding that the Commission’s findings showed that “better health is the most important medicine our economy needs for the faster growth that the new Government has identified as one of its five key missions”.

Without action and if current trends continue, the report predicts that economic inactivity due to sickness could hit 4.3 million by the end of this Parliament – up from today’s record level of 2.8 million. At the end of 2023, an estimated 900,000 extra workers were missing from the workforce due to sickness, compared with what was expected before the pandemic. This could result in £5 billion in lost tax receipts this year, whereas better health across the nation could save the NHS £18 billion a year by the mid-2030s, the Commission estimated.

The report makes a series of recommendations aimed at moving from a “reactive, sickness orientated 20^th Century healthcare system” to a “proactive 21^st Century health creation system”. The goal of the health creation system is to add 10 years to healthy life expectancy by 2055 and to halve regional health inequalities.

Among these recommendations is a suggested cut to business taxes for employers that prioritise and invest in the health and wellbeing of their workers, as well as the introduction of a new NHS “back to work” national programme aimed at supporting people with disabilities and long-term health conditions back into “appropriate” jobs.

Other proposals include making tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy food companies pay higher taxes to fund “good health schemes”, creating a health index to monitor changes to the nation’s health, and introducing a “right to try” period for people on health or disability benefits, so that they can try working without risking their welfare status or award level.

“It’s time for a new health policy where we all play our part – businesses, employers, investors, individuals, communities and families alike,” said Lord James Bethell, a member of the cross-party Commission.

The Commission’s findings echo calls made earlier this year by British Safety Council in its Health, Safety and Wellbeing Manifesto to put health, safety and wellbeing at the heart of the UK’s economic growth policy. The Manifesto called for the appointment of a dedicated Minister for Wellbeing, and the implementation of a National Wellbeing Strategy. It also proposed the introduction of a tax offset for businesses that invest in new technologies that drive up health, safety and wellbeing standards in the workplace.

The UK’s health and social care secretary, Wes Streeting, is due to speak at an event to formally launch the Commission’s report on 18 September.