The level of illness among the UK population is costing lives and harming the economy, a report has warned – after the number of people off work due to long-term sickness hit another record high.
More than 2.6 million people now do not have jobs because of their health, according to latest employment data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The all-time high comes after an additional 491,433 adults were added to the official total in the three months from May to July, figures released on Tuesday revealed.
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said in a report on Wednesday that the issue had become a “serious fiscal threat” to the UK – and to individuals’ health.
The think tank blamed long NHS waiting lists and other problems faced by the public in accessing treatment, and said reform was urgently needed to avert “killer” costs while also ending second-rate care.
It comes after the number of patients in England waiting to start routine hospital treatment topped a record high of 7.6 million.
People aged between 16 and 64 who are not in employment due to long-term sickness are officially classed as “economically inactive”, rather than unemployed, because they are either not looking for a job or are unable to work.
Overall economic inactivity – including students in the age range and those not seeking employment for other reasons – rose by 0.1 percentage points during the period to 21.1%, according to the official figures.
The ONS said that while the rate had generally been falling in recent decades, it increased during COVID and is currently still above pre-pandemic levels.
The IPPR pointed the finger at what it said was a decline in the quality of health care – and said the UK was increasingly “spending more to get less”.
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Call for more help to get millions of long-term sick back into employment
One in five adults in England will be living with major diseases by 2040
“The number of deaths that could have been avoided with timely healthcare or public health interventions is much higher in the UK than in all other comparable European nations,” the report said.
“We estimate that if the UK had an avoidable mortality rate similar to those in comparable European countries, around 240,000 fewer people would have died in the decade from 2010.”
It added: “On the post-pandemic trajectory, new modelling commissioned for this report finds government healthcare spending in England is on course to rise from 9% of GDP [gross domestic product] to 11.2% of GDP by 2033/34.
“This is much faster than the rate at which we expect the economy to grow, suggesting cuts for other public services or rationing of health and social care services.”
The think tank said reforms, such as better integrated services in neighbourhood “health hubs” and improvements to social care, along with better pay and rights for healthcare workers, could save taxpayers up to £205bn over a decade.
Lord Bethell, former health minister and commissioner, said: “Sick Britain is costing us our lives, our livelihoods and harming the UK economy.”
He added: “We must start taking action to reduce demand and need for healthcare, through prevention.”
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One in five to have major illness by 2040
Downing Street acknowledged on Tuesday that improvements were needed in tackling long-term sickness.
The prime minister’s official spokesman told reporters: “We recognise there is more to do to help get people back into work or into the workforce more generally.”
He added: “We are introducing a package of measures worth £3.5bn to remove barriers to the labour market, to support people who would like to work including those with disabilities or health conditions.”
But Nicola Smith, head of economics and rights at the TUC, said: “This is yet another example to add to the government’s catalogue of economic failures with rapidly rising unemployment alongside record numbers of people unable to find work because of ill health.”
The government recently unveiled proposals to shake up disability benefit assessments as part of efforts to encourage economically inactive people to enter the workforce.
But concerns have been raised that the reforms could force people into jobs when they are not well enough and make them more ill.
Hannah Slaughter, a senior economist at the Resolution Foundation, described the rising number of people who are too sick to work as a “worrying trend”.
She added: “Addressing this issue will require more than just reforms to benefit assessments, it will need to mean more support for those in work too.”
Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, marks their 50th birthday amid a year of rising institutional and geopolitical adoption of the world’s first cryptocurrency.
The identity of Nakamoto remains one of the biggest mysteries in crypto, with speculation ranging from cryptographers like Adam Back and Nick Szabo to broader theories involving government intelligence agencies.
While Nakamoto’s identity remains anonymous, the Bitcoin (BTC) creator is believed to have turned 50 on April 5 based on details shared in the past.
According to archived data from his P2P Foundation profile, Nakamoto once claimed to be a 37-year-old man living in Japan and listed his birthdate as April 5, 1975.
Source: Web.archive.org
Nakamoto’s anonymity has played a vital role in maintaining the decentralized nature of the Bitcoin network, which has no central authority or leadership.
The Bitcoin wallet associated with Nakamoto, which holds over 1 million BTC, has laid dormant for more than 16 years despite BTC rising from $0 to an all-time high above $109,000 in January.
Satoshi Nakamoto statue in Lugano, Switzerland. Source: Cointelegraph
Nakamoto’s 50th birthday comes nearly a month after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile, marking the first major step toward integrating Bitcoin into the US financial system.
Related: Bitcoin at 16: From experiment to trillion-dollar asset
Nakamoto’s legacy: a “cornerstone of economic sovereignty”
“At 50, Nakamoto’s legacy is no longer just code; it’s a cornerstone of economic sovereignty,” according to Anndy Lian, author and intergovernmental blockchain expert.
“Bitcoin’s reserve status signals trust in its scarcity and resilience,” Lian told Cointelegraph, adding:
“What’s fascinating is the timing. Fifty feels symbolic — half a century of life, mirrored by Bitcoin’s journey from a white paper to a trillion-dollar asset. Nakamoto’s vision of trustless, peer-to-peer money has outgrown its cypherpunk roots, entering the halls of power.”
However, lingering questions about Nakamoto remain unanswered, including whether they still hold the keys to their wallet, which is “a fortune now tied to US policy,” Lian said.
Related: Bitcoin’s next catalyst: End of $36T US debt ceiling suspension
Is Satoshi Nakamoto wealthier than Bill Gates?
In February, Arkham Intelligence published findings that attribute 1.096 million BTC — then valued at more than $108 billion — to Nakamoto. That would place him above Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on the global wealth rankings, according to data shared by Coinbase director Conor Grogan.
Satoshi’s new addresses. Source: Conor Grogan
If accurate, this would make Nakamoto the world’s 16th richest person.
Despite the growing interest in Nakamoto’s identity and holdings, his early decision to remain anonymous and inactive has helped preserve Bitcoin’s decentralized ethos — a principle that continues to define the cryptocurrency to this day.
Magazine: 10 crypto theories that missed as badly as ‘Peter Todd is Satoshi’
The United States stock market lost more in value over the April 4 trading day than the entire cryptocurrency market is worth, as fears over US President Donald Trump’s tariffs continue to ramp up.
On April 4, the US stock market lost $3.25 trillion — around $570 billion more than the entire crypto market’s $2.68 trillion valuation at the time of publication.
Nasdaq 100 is now “in a bear market”
Among the Magnificent-7 stocks, Tesla (TSLA) led the losses on the day with a 10.42% drop, followed by Nvidia (NVDA) down 7.36% and Apple (AAPL) falling 7.29%, according to TradingView data.
The significant decline across the board signals that the Nasdaq 100 is now “in a bear market” after falling 6% across the trading day, trading resource account The Kobeissi Letter said in an April 4 X post. This is the largest daily decline since March 16, 2020.
“US stocks have now erased a massive -$11 TRILLION since February 19 with recession odds ABOVE 60%,” it added. The Kobessi Letter said Trump’s April 2 tariff announcement was “historic” and if the tariffs continue, a recession will be “impossible to avoid.”
Source: Anthony Scaramucci
On April 2, Trump signed an executive order establishing reciprocal tariffs on trading partners and a 10% baseline tariff on all imports from all countries.
Trump said the reciprocal tariffs will be roughly half the rate US trading partners impose on American goods.
Related: Bitcoin bulls defend $80K support as ‘World War 3 of trade wars’ crushes US stocks
Meanwhile, the crypto industry has pointed out that while the stock market continues to decline, Bitcoin (BTC) remains stronger than most expected.
Crypto trader Plan Markus pointed out in an April 4 X post that while the entire stock market “is tanking,” Bitcoin is holding.
Source: Jeff Dorman
Even some crypto skeptics have pointed out the contrast between Bitcoin’s performance and the US stock market during the recent period of macro uncertainty.
Stock market commentator Dividend Hero told his 203,200 X followers that he has “hated on Bitcoin in the past, but seeing it not tank while the stock market does is very interesting to me.”
Meanwhile, technical trader Urkel said Bitcoin “doesn’t appear to care one bit about tariff wars and markets tanking.” Bitcoin is trading at $83,749 at the time of publication, down 0.16% over the past seven days, according to CoinMarketCap data.
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