Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to assist people of working age who are economically inactive due to illness back into employment.

The government has a longstanding programme supporting disabled people and people with health conditions to start, stay and succeed in work. This programme includes employment support programmes for disabled people and people with health conditions facing additional barriers into employment and interventions designed to minimise the risk of ill-health related job-loss. These programmes are accessible to the economically inactive and those at risk of falling into economic inactivity, including due to illness.

Long-term sickness is now the most common reason for being economically inactive, rising 3.5 percentage points in the last 3 years to a total of 2.5 million people. It is the biggest factor in the rise in economic inactivity since the start of the pandemic.

The 50-64 age group make up the largest proportion of those who are economically inactive due to long-term sickness. The government provides additional support to individuals aged 50 and over, in recognition of the additional challenges they may face re-joining the labour market.