They are characterised by a higher proportion of people with limited long standing illness; those of working age who are permanently off sick; of those without qualifications and of those aged 16 24 who are unemployed.
Mental illness is not only the largest single illness among people of working age.
The Commons work and pensions select committee found earlier this year that the assessment system, which is used to determine whether hundreds of thousands of benefit claimants with a disability or long-term illness are capable of working, was so flawed that it should be scrapped and completely redesigned.
Illness represents loss of working ability and, at least in a capitalist society, can mean job loss and lead directly to social poverty [ 11, 12].
They all used multiple strategies and resources to manage their illness, providing detailed accounts of working hard to limit disruption, and maintain familiar lives and a moral obligation to manage their illness 'well'well
Margaret Menzies, 58, developed a phobic disorder and depressive illness as a result of working under the headteacher Valerie Hughes at the school.
More than that, I've seen clients and families reach a point where they can look back on the illness, and the process of working through recovery, and identify that [even though] the experience nearly tore their lives apart, it eventually enriched it".
Table 7 Overall cost of mental illness (UK) At work % of working hours lost Non-employment 4.4 Absenteeism 1.1 Presenteeism 2.0 7.5 Healthcare % of GDP Mental healthcare 1.5 Physical healthcare 0.8 2.3.
The half-decade gap, Hopkinson says, was the result of a serious illness that rendered her incapable of working, financially destitute and ultimately homeless.
More recently, research in the UK and abroad has begun to examine the impact of illness on work absence, placing greater emphasis on the broader role of employers and organisational policies in facilitating people's return to work [ 49- 51].
