Where the City’s movers and shakers have their say. Today, James Reed, CEO of Reed, takes the pen to talk about the UK workforce and how Labour can help lower economic inactivity

How Labour can fight economic inactivity

If I was in the new government, top of my in-tray would be the problem of economic inactivity.

The UK is the only G7 economy where there is less employment now than there was pre-pandemic.

The economic inactivity rate for those aged 16 to 64 was 22.1 per cent in March to May, above estimates of a year ago. This is a huge problem, particularly among young people but also the older generation.

To tackle the issue, we need to address the growing part that mental ill health plays in economic inactivity.

Of course, some people with mental illness are genuinely unable to work, but my experience of running a welfare to work business, Reed in Partnership, for the last 25 years is that for others, going to work can have a protective effect against depression, anxiety and other mental health problems.

By contrast, being out of work only makes matters worse because........

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