The Guardian view on work in Britain: insecurity is making people sick

theguardian.com:

W hat’s the best way to fix Britain’s economy? According to Labour and the Conservatives, the answer is growth. Yet this focus overlooks another fundamental reason for Britain’s sluggish productivity. The UK is unwell. Every year, 2% of its GDP – or £43bn – is lost due to poor health, according to new findings from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). More people are leaving work due to long-term health conditions and more are claiming disability benefits. So long as this persists, calling for growth will be like attempting to compete in a race while being too sick and exhausted to run.

The reasons for Britain’s ill health have been widely discussed. Poverty is a major cause. Those on low incomes are more likely to live in overcrowded housing and struggle to afford life’s essentials. If social housing was plentiful, nutritious food subsidised and heating permanently affordable, poverty would not be as harmful to health. But a decade of cuts to public services has left those on low incomes even more exposed. Meanwhile, Whitehall has focused its energies on the NHS, viewing medical treatment as the job of the state and prevention as the responsibility of individuals. Broader health has not been a government priority – a fact signalled by the cynical decision to scrap Public Health England in 2020.

An obvious solution would be ensuring people had enough money to live well, starting by benchmarking benefits to living costs. Yet the Conservatives’ preferred answer to poverty has been to force people into work. Over the last decade, as the government has reduced outlays, people have taken poorly paid, part-time jobs. Jeremy Hunt’s recent decision to abolish the current incapacity benefit paid to those out of work