400,000 people have left the workforce since the beginning of the pandemic because of reasons related to poor health, a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has found. The report, published to coincide with the launch of the IPPR’s Commission on Health and Prosperity, found that around one million people in total had left the workforce during the pandemic. This included 200,000 who left because of long-term illness, and around 100,000 who left because of other health reasons, including providing unpaid care.
