ONS Research Links Personal Health Conditions to Lower Employment Rates

The Office for National Statistics research uses linked survey and administrative data to show that people with poorer self-reported health or long-term health conditions have lower employment rates and higher rates of economic inactivity compared with those reporting good health. The figures show these patterns vary by demographic group and region, giving policymakers a clearer picture of who is most affected and where.

Dr Emma Sharland, Head of the Health Research Group at the ONS, commented on the findings as part of a Government Analysis Function case study titled “Exploring how personal health affects economic activity.” Her commentary forms part of ONS’s broader effort to explain what the data show — and what they don’t — to a wider audience beyond specialist researchers.

For Kent, practical. Bodies such as Kent County Council and the NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board draw on ONS health and economic activity statistics to plan services, allocate resources and design local strategies for supporting people with long-term conditions into or within work. The ONS analysis can also be used to benchmark Kent against national trends and identify areas where economic inactivity linked to sickness is above all high.

Disability organisations and advocacy groups have broadly welcomed the visibility this research gives to employment barriers — but some have raised concerns that data of this kind could be misused to tighten benefit eligibility rules rather than to improve workplace inclusion and reasonable adjustments.

The work sits alongside wider debate in the UK about rising economic inactivity. Policymakers have been pressing for better statistics to distinguish between different drivers — chronic illness, caring responsibilities, skills mismatches — so that interventions can be better targeted. The Office for Statistics Regulation has separately highlighted ONS’s leading role in bringing together data sources to make health statistics more coherent across government departments.

Kent employers can also draw on this evidence base when reviewing workplace health policies, flexible working arrangements and occupational health provision, chiefly in sectors where long-term health conditions are more prevalent among the workforce.