Health conditions among working-age people
About 3 mins
Key points
- Ill-health among the UK’s working-age population has increased over the past decade.
- In 2023, over 8 million people aged 16–64 reported a long-term health condition that limits the type or amount of work they can do.
- This includes 3.9 million employed people with a work-limiting health condition and 4 million who were neither in work nor actively seeking work (known as being economically inactive).
- In 2023, 37% of working-age people with work-limiting health conditions were receiving either disability and/or incapacity benefits.
Long-term health conditions can affect the kinds or amount of work people can do. Around a fifth of working-age people – over 8 million – report having a long-term health condition that restricts their ability to work. This figure increased from 15% to 20% of the 16–64 age group from 2013 to 2023. Click or tap on the groups in the interactive chart for a more detailed breakdown of health conditions in each group and benefits claimed by each group.
Musculoskeletal and mental health conditions are the most common work-limiting health conditions reported by working-age people, both in and out of work. In 2023, around 2 million people aged 16–64 reported a work-limiting musculoskeletal condition as their primary condition, while an additional 2 million reported a primary work-limiting mental health condition.
Health challenges differ by age. In 2023, 16% of people aged 16–34 reported a work-limiting health condition, compared with 27% of people aged 50–64. The proportion of people reporting such conditions has been rising across all age groups.
The proportions of people with work-limiting conditions in and out of work are similar. Of the 8.2 million people aged 16–64 with a work-limiting health condition:
- 3.9 million were employed in 2023, up from 2.4 million in 2013.
- 4.0 million were neither in work nor actively seeking work, up from 3.2 million in 2013. Of these people, 2.6 million cited long-term sickness or disability as the main reason they were economically inactive. Other factors contributing to inactivity included caring responsibilities.
- Around 340,000 were unemployed. This means they were actively seeking and available for work but unable to find a job.
Labour Force Survey data indicates that, in 2023, 3.3 million people aged 16–64 were in receipt of either disability and/or incapacity benefits:
- 92% of working-age people who received either disability or incapacity benefits reported having a work-limiting health condition.
- 37% of working-age people with work-limiting health conditions were claiming either disability or incapacity benefits (or both), including 65% of those who are inactive.
- Almost half of working-age people with a work-limiting health condition and claiming either disability or incapacity benefits reported having a mental health or musculoskeletal condition as their main health condition.
- A condition is considered to be work-limiting if it affects either the amount or type of work an individual can do.
- Condition breakdowns refer to an individual's primary health condition.
- Working-age refers to people aged between 16 and 64.
- Incapacity benefits include Employment and Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance and Universal Credit due to not working – sick, injured or disabled.
- Disability benefits include Personal Independence Payment and Disability Living Allowance.
- Incapacity and disability benefit receipt is based on reported responses to the Labour Force Survey, this is likely to underestimate the total number of people in receipt of these benefits, but provides an indication of the characteristics of this group.
Source: Labour Force Survey, Office for National Statistics, 2023
Evidence Hub topics
Related reading
The Commission for Healthier Working Lives, supported by the Health Foundation, reviewed and published new evidence on the long-term changes needed to improve working-age people’s health and help more people with health conditions to thrive in the workforce.