I MORNING BRIEFING: WHY WORK-RELATED MENTAL ILLNESS IS ON THE RISE
Welcome to Wednesday’s Early Edition from i.
Rishi Sunak has claimed there is a “moral mission” to get people back to work and end what he called a “sick note culture”. In a major speech earlier this month the PM said there was a risk that young people are “over-medicalising the everyday challenges and worries of life”. He pointed to the increase in long-term sickness since the height of the Covid pandemic, of which mental health conditions make up the bulk of. It’s not the first time a government has taken aim at ‘sick note culture’. Almost two decades ago, Labour work and pensions secretary Peter Hain vowed to “rip up sicknote Britain”. Official figures do show that since the start of the pandemic, there has been an increase of 850,000 in the number of working-age adults who say long-term illness is keeping them from work. According to the DWP, 69% of incapacity benefit claims made over the last two years involved “mental and behavioural disorders”. Now the Government wants to reform the system, which could also see people with anxiety and depression receiving less money. But what is really going on, and what could the solutions be? We’ll take a look, after the headlines.
Today’s news, and why it matters
Dramatic doorbell camera images have captured the moment police Tasered and arrested a man with a sword on suspicion of murder, after a 14-year-old boy was fatally stabbed. Five people, including two police officers, were injured in the attack in Hainault.
A bold new blueprint for a volunteer army reserve involving retired ex-service personnel to bolster the UK’s military in the event of war is being considered by defence chiefs, i can reveal. Senior military figures have proposed recruiting an initial 20,000 former regular army and reservists to boost military numbers as the UK enters what the Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has called a “pre-war” period.
The UK has moved a failed asylum seeker to Rwanda for the first time, according to reports. The man has been relocated to the country after taking part in a voluntary removal scheme, that is separate to the government’s controversial Rwanda deportation policy.
More vulnerable people such as torture, sexual violence and trafficking victims as well as those suffering mental health issues will be detained due to the Rwanda plan, the Government has admitted.
Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat have pledged to introduce extra security checks to crack down on illegal workers using their apps. It comes after an investigation by i revealed thousands of delivery rider accounts were being traded for use by people who did not have the right to work in the UK through an online black market.
Two men have been charged over the felling of the Sycamore Gap Tree. Daniel Graham, 38, and Adam Carruthers, 31, have been charged with causing criminal damage to the famous tree and the wall last September, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
Three questions on the rise of mental health problems in the work force:
Why is there a rise in the number of working-age people with mental health problems? Figures revealed by i today show that the number of people suffering from mental health problems caused by their jobs has soared by 275,000 since the pandemic. But the reasons behind it are complex. Alexa Knight, director of England at the Mental Health Foundation, said the onset of working from home during the pandemic has contributed to poor work-life balance in some jobs. She told i: “During the pandemic people’s work and home life started blurring, people started working longer hours, they were less able to switch off and some of that has carried on. Managers can play a key role in making sure that people are protecting their personal time.” Neil Greenberg, a psychiatrist and executive committee member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said workers’ mental health is likely being negatively impacted by insecure jobs and zero-hour contracts, which have risen in recent years. Read the full story here. Sunak’s claim that young people may be over-medicalising everyday worries has also been taken apart. Charities were quick to highlight long waiting lists for mental health services, which are at breaking point due to under investment. Dr Sarah Hughes, chief executive of Mind, said the PM’s rhetoric was “harmful, inaccurate and contrary to the reality for people. The truth is that mental health services are at breaking point following years of under investment with many people getting increasingly unwell while they wait to receive support. It is insulting to the 1.9 million people on a waiting list to get mental health support, and to the GPs whose expert judgment is being called into question.” The FT also cited Louise Murphy, an economist at the Resolution Foundation think-tank, who said most claims by 16- to 25-year-olds relate to ADHD, autism and learning disabilities. And Dr Shari McDaid, of the Mental Health Foundation, told the BBC: “We cannot underestimate the impact the past few years have had. The young people of today were the toddlers and infants of the 2008 financial crash. They have lived through the turbulence and conflict of Brexit and then there was the pandemic … They have then had the cost of living crisis to deal with. We know adverse events are cumulative – the more you experience the more likely you are to struggle.”
What’s the government doing? The Government has said it will overhaul the disability benefits system with Mel Stride, the Work and Pensions Secretary, warning that people suffering from depression or anxiety could lose access to sickness payments. There are now 2.6 million people of working age claiming PIP and DLA (Disability Living Allowance) – with 33,000 new awards for PIP each month – more than double the rate before the pandemic. The rise is in part fuelled by the rise in people receiving PIP for mental health conditions such as mixed anxiety and depressive disorders, with monthly awards doubling from 2,200 to 5,300 a month since 2019. The new system would be based on a model in Norway, known as “Basic Benefit”, where people are given monthly cash payments at one of six different rates, depending on the severity of their condition, their equipment and clinical needs and other support. People would have to provide a letter from their GP outlining the nature of their condition and the associated extra costs when applying for the benefit. Read more here.
What do experts say should happen? Mr Greenberg urged employers to do more to help people who face mental health issues arising from their jobs. He told i under the Equality Act 2010 people who have an impairment in their day-to-day activities for more than a year are considered to be disabled and should be receiving “reasonable adjustments” from their employers. He said: “That might mean reducing workload, it might mean allowing more flexibility in how someone works so they can work at home some of the time, it might be changing their supervisor, it might be changing their role a bit.” Writing for the Conversation, three academics from Northumbria University argue there is good evidence for less conditional systems of welfare , and to “invest in reactive healthcare to ensure that people with long-term conditions receive the treatment they need to be as active as possible”. They wrote: “The prime minister suggested that some people with mental health conditions might be better supported through talking therapies or respite care than cash transfers. That might be the case had government funding for these services not failed to keep up with demand.” More funding for mental health services is also being championed by charities. Nil Güzelgün, of the mental health charity Mind, recently pointed to the 1.9 million people on waiting lists for NHS mental health treatment. “People would love to work if they had access to the mental health support they need but that support just isn’t there,” she said. “People need to be offered tailored support from experts if they are to return to work, not threats of losing what little money they currently have to live on.”
Around the world
Police officers have entered New York’s Columbia University, clearing dozens of people from inside a building occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters. Officers climbed through a window, streaming in over a ramp raised from the top of a police vehicle to get inside. Multiple protesters were taken into custody and taken away on buses.
Donald Trump has been fined $9,000 for violating a gag order barring him from making public statements about witnesses and jurors in his hush money trial. Judge Juan M. Merchan ruled that the former US president had violated the order nine times during the case at the Manhattan court and imposed a financial penalty.
Russia is accelerating its electronic warfare campaign against Nato countries through GPS jamming attacks on commercial air travel and shipping, amid warnings from the alliance that such operations are likely to feature in any future conflict. Finnair, Finland’s air carrier, this week announced that it was suspending its daily flights to Tartu in eastern Estonia for a month after interference with GPS signals over the Baltic Sea region prevented two aircraft from landing last week.
Amateur archaeologists have unearthed five human skeletons missing their hands and feet under the former home of the Nazi war criminal Hermann Göring at Hitler’s Wolf’s Lair military headquarters in present-day Poland. The remains are believed to be that of a family.
A British teacher who swapped inner city state schools for the international schools of Bangkok says he is now better off and more fulfilled – joking that the only thing he misses about life in the UK is Nando’s. Ryan Woolaston, 39, moved to Thailand to start a new life with his wife Amy in 2018 after eight years teaching maths in secondary schools in the UK.
Watch out for…
Last ditch attempts to woo voters as politicians and canvassers have one last day of campaigning ahead of Thursday’s local elections.
Thoughts for the day
The nightmare scenario for the Conservative Party. Sir Graham Brady has sounded a warning over the ‘crazy’ process for choosing a Tory leader. His party would do well to listen,
Why does Britain resent young families so much? Bar kids from your pub, sure. But you don’t need to be so dismissive about it, argues Richard James.
Russell Brand is missing the point of a baptism. What I have seen is Russell Brand focusing on Russell Brand, says Michael Coren.
Culture Break
The great Girls rewatch proves how wrong we were about Lena Dunham. Initially hailed as groundbreaking, the show quickly became labelled as ‘problematic’. Now, millennials and Gen Z are discovering its brilliance all over again, writes Emily Bootle.
The Big Read
Why your bottle of wine could soon carry a cancer warning. As research links alcohol to one in 10 cases of breast cancer, experts are calling for smoking-style labels to change our drinking habits.
Sport
A Vegas gamble and Iraola’s culture shift: How Bournemouth made history. Bournemouth secure their highest Premier League points tally thanks to a long-term project that has been years in the making.
Something to brighten your day
At 50, I had a midlife crisis – so I moved to Ibiza. Eco anxiety sparked existential angst for Rebecca Frayn. Her solution? She moved to the rural north of the party island and set up an off-grid honey farm, with five sheep and three donkeys.