Britons who could play a brilliant role in the workforce are being signed-off sick
Urgent action is needed to get over-50s back to work and the country’s sick note system should be radically reformed so they do not languish on benefits, according to a major think tank. More than a quarter of over-50s are out of work with the UK now facing a “midlife crisis”, the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) claims.
It found the that last year nearly two million people aged 50-64 were jobless benefits claimants – up from 1.4 million just before the country locked down for the pandemic. The number of people in this age group who are “economically inactive” because of long-term sickness surged by 21% between 2015 and last year.
The CSJ is pushing for reform of the so-called “fit note” system used to sign people off work. It discovered that in the last quarter of 2024-25 alone, 2.7 million fit notes were issued. More than nine out of 10 (93%) said the person was “not fit for work” – with just 7% saying he or she “may be fit for work”.
The think tank, founded by former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, warns this “reflects a system that defaults to full sickness absence”. It wants the Government to launch a new “National Work and Health Service” to “take pressure off GPs” and help make the adjustments people need to get back to a job.
GPs, the think tank claims, “often lack the time and training to assess what reasonable adjustments might help a patient stay in work”. It warns that drop-out from the workforce is “now one of the major obstacles to economic recovery” – and the problem is most profound for older citizens.
The 50-64 economic inactivity rate of 25.9% compares with 11.5% for those aged 35-49. Since Covid, it calculates, there are “around 185,000 more” 50 to 64-year-olds who are “not in work and not looking for work”.
The CSJ is alarmed the share of economically inactive older people who say they would like to work has sunk from 19% in 2015 to just 14% last year.
Carolyn Harris, the Labour MP who is deputy chair of the think tank, said: “As this timely report shows, the UK economy is facing a ‘midlife crisis’. The number of people aged 50-64 on out of work benefits increased by over 500,000 in just the four years since the pandemic.”
She wants action to “stem the flow of the 300,000 or so who exit work every year due to sickness”.
The CSJ’s Mercy Muroki added: “Workers over 50 bring decades of skills, insight, and experience. Even a modest rise in employment among economically inactive people over 50 could generate billions in tax revenue and welfare savings.”
Caroline Abrahams of Age UK stressed the importance of work for over-50s – but warned they need better help from the Government.
Carolyn Harris, deputy chair of the Centre for Social Justice (Image: Carolyn Harris ©House of Commons https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
She said: “It’s hugely important that whenever the over-50s want or need to work they are able to do so. Working not only helps people keep the lights on, but very often gives people a sense of identity and purpose, while maintaining their social connectedness through both speaking to customers and colleagues.
“However with more over-50s than ever before experiencing poor health that prevents them from working, it’s important that the Government improves the support on offer. For example, the system of sick pay isolates many low paid workers from receiving support, while long waiting lists in the NHS prevent people from accessing the necessary medical treatment.”
A Government spokesperson said: “Work is good for people’s health and good for the economy. We can’t afford to keep writing people off, which is why we’re fixing the broken system we inherited and helping sick and disabled people back into employment through our plan for change. This includes giving GPs a funding boost to help them get people the work and health support they need – rather than signing them off with a fit note.”
