In six charts: why health must be at the heart of Burnham’s 10-year plan for Britain

Health is our most precious asset, enabling people to fulfil their potential, fuelling our economy and helping to build a stronger society. 

But the UK’s health is under strain, is marred by deep inequalities and compares increasingly poorly with our international peers. Poor health among the working-age population is a driver of the increasing number of people out of the workforce and the growth in young people not in employment, education or training. Improving health could deliver a significant boost to the economy and the public finances through higher income tax revenues and savings to the welfare budget and the NHS.

Yet, successive governments have failed to take the long-term action needed to invest in our health. Most recently, Keir Starmer’s government launched a health mission that promised a cross-government approach to improve the population’s health and reduce health inequalities, but 2 years on, it has effectively been abandoned.

New Prime Minister Andy Burnham has signalled he will take a long-term approach to governing and has promised a 10-year plan for Britain before the end of the year. These six charts underline why rebuilding the nation’s health must be at the heart of this plan.

1. Our health is under strain

After decades of progress, improvements in life expectancy have slowed markedly since the early 2010s. At the same time, healthy life expectancy – the average numbers of years people can expect to live in good health – has fallen by more than 2 years over the past decade. 

While this measure has some limitations, other indicators, such as the growing prevalence of some chronic conditions and the rising number of people with multiple health conditions, also point to a deterioration in health, particularly among the working-age population. This was not an inevitable outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic – of the 21 high-income countries we studied, the UK was one of only five to see healthy life expectancy fall over the decade to 2021.

2. The UK’s health is falling behind other nations

While other countries are also experiencing health challenges, the UK’s health is increasingly poor compared with our international peers. In 2023, the UK was ranked 28^th out of 38 OECD countries for female life expectancy (down from 24^th in 2013) and 23^rd for male life expectancy (down from 14^th in 2013). 

The UK’s comparatively poor health is also demonstrated by other indicators. Compared with 21 other high-income countries, in 2023, the UK’s mortality rate was 14% higher than the median for females and 9% higher for males. Our analysis of healthy life expectancy in 21 countries showed that between 2011 and 2021, the UK fell from 14^th to 20^th, with only the US having a lower healthy life expectancy.

3. Inequalities in health are deep and entrenched

Deep inequalities in health exist between affluent and deprived areas of the UK. The gap in healthy life expectancy between the most and least deprived of areas of England is now 20.3 years for females and 19.4 years for males. These inequalities contribute to significant regional variations in health. Premature mortality rates (people dying before the age of 75 years) are much higher for local authorities in the north of England. And these disparities are more pronounced in the UK than in other countries: in 2018, of 31 European countries, the UK had the fourth-widest relative gap between local areas with the highest and lowest mortality rates. 

4. Poor working-age health is damaging the labour market

Among the working-age population, rates of long-term illness are rising significantly. This is not just affecting the wellbeing and quality of life of individuals, but it is also having a growing impact on the labour market. The number of people with a work-limiting health condition rose from 6.1 million in 2014 to 8.3 million in 2025, and the proportion of working-age people with a long-term health condition in the UK is higher than in many European countries. Each year, more than 300,000 people in the UK leave their jobs and end up out of the workforce with a work-limiting health condition. Poor health has been estimated to cost UK employers up to £150bn a year. 

5. Poor health is a driver of the NEETs crisis

Poor health among young people is one of the drivers of the increasing number of 16–24-year-olds not in employment, education or training (NEET),who are at risk of becoming a ‘lost generation’ according to Alan Milburn, who is leading an independent review of young people and work. The proportion of young people in the NEET category reporting a work-limiting health condition has increased from 26% in 2015 to 44% in 2025, mainly driven by an increase in reported mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions. The likelihood of a 16–24-year-old with a work-limiting health condition having NEET status is around 1 in 3, much higher than the 1 in 10 likelihood for young people reporting no health conditions. 

6. Better health could deliver a boost to the economy and public finances

Improving the nation's health is not just a social good, it is a major economic opportunity. Our analysis suggests that restoring the population’s health to 2014 levels could generate an additional £57bn of economic output every year, equivalent to around 2% of GDP, and a £72bn boost to the public finances through higher income tax revenues and reduced spending on welfare and the NHS. The largest economic gains would come from getting more people into work, while the most substantial benefits would be felt by lower-income households. 

Conclusion

Good health is not just precious for its own sake, it is critical for ensuring more people are in work and for boosting the economy. With our health deteriorating across several measures, rebuilding the UK’s health must be at the heart of Andy Burnham’s 10-year plan for Britain.