Britain is considering higher taxes to curb the rise in sick leaves

Awareness of mental health problems related to overwork is constantly growing. A stressful work environment causes increasing talk of burnout, bullying, depression, and anxiety disorders. From the employees' perspective, sick leave issued by psychiatrists is the easiest to obtain—it is difficult to definitively refute mental health issues, and leave related to a psychological crisis is usually issued for several months. This time allows for recovery and potential job searching.

The British Institute for Public Policy Research is sounding the alarm. In a report, experts write, "Around 900,000 more working-age Britons are now inactive — neither in work nor looking for a job — than at the start of Covid in 2020, with many falling onto costly disability benefits. If trends continue inactivity due to sickness will rise to 4.3 million from 2.8 million today," citing Bloomberg.

IPPR reports that the work on the report lasted three years and was coordinated by "cross-party experts." A sharp increase in the number of disability benefit claims has accompanied the sharp increase in the number of long-term illnesses. The Office for Budget Responsibility previously estimated that the combined impact of losing workers and a larger welfare bill costs the state around $18 billion annually, the report's authors add.

Experts note that the number of sick leaves results from a range of issues, including increasingly longer wait times to see doctors and the prevalence of civilization diseases, including mental illnesses. Many employees take short health breaks to recover, even if they do not leave work entirely. In summarizing the report, the authors write that Great Britain has become the "literal sick man of Europe"—with a rising number of chronic conditions, stagnation in healthy life expectancy, increasing economic inactivity, a growing mental health crisis, and deepening inequalities.

The British government is analyzing a range of actions that could potentially reduce the number of people leaving work or taking sick leave. One idea is to increase taxes on cigarettes and alcohol so that those taking time off to indulge in vices would have to return to work to afford those harmful substances.