Inventing our future Collective action for a sustainable economy

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Strategic Priority 5: To encourage better health for people
in the East of England throughout their working lives
7.11 As Chapter 4 made clear, the processes surrounding work and employment provide purpose, social
support, structure and a means of participating in society, as well as income. 120 People’s experience of
work – and workplaces – has a substantial bearing on their health. Chapter 4 highlighted the importance
of structural issues concerned with the relationship between work and health including the incidence of
employment in low pay sectors and the uptake of training and workforce development; the surrounding
issues are addressed directly in both the Regional Social Strategy and the Regional Economic Strategy, and
they are supported rather than replicated here. In Healthy Futures, the focus for Action is on the more
immediate links between health, work and workplaces.
(i) Vulnerable groups in the workforce, including those that are workless and experiencing
poor mental health
7.12 A first key issue concerns groups which are – in some sense – vulnerable within the workforce.
This includes both those who are currently in employment and those who are workless. In the East
of England, the people who are prone to social exclusion are also likely to be vulnerable within the
workforce. As set out in the Regional Social Strategy, this includes black and minority ethnic groups,
disabled people, lone parents, older people, carers, asylum seekers, refugees and ex-offenders; all
of these people are – in relative terms – more likely to find it difficult to secure employment. Some
migrant workers are also vulnerable in labour market terms.
7.13 People with mental health problems comprise another vulnerable group; survey evidence – quoted
in Choosing Health – suggests that most employers are unwilling to recruit people with any kind
of mental health problem and the associated stigma for the individuals concerned is considerable. 121
Drawing on Census data, the Regional Social Strategy observes that 12.7% of the economically inactive
population is sick or disabled and that these people constitute the biggest group among those who
are economically inactive but want paid work. Other evidence suggests that just under half of all those
classified as long-term sick or disabled are diagnosed with psychological ill health. There is, further,
the suggestion that individuals (particularly men) drop out of the labour force as a result of worsening
psychological health. There is no evidence that increasing numbers of school leavers enter the labour
market in a poor state of health and hence, the implication is that a cause of the problem resulting
in worklessness – and the vulnerability relating to it – is related to the experience of work; levels of
job satisfaction relative to aspirations is one key issue. 122
7.14 In a region with labour shortages, issues relating to the mental health of people in the workplace are
a concern. Actions to improve job satisfaction – in the broadest sense – would appear to be a priority.
For those that have become workless because of long-term sickness, appropriate routes back into
employment should be beneficial both for the individual (in terms of their own health outcomes)
and for the regional economy. In this context, the Intermediate Labour Market – which provides work,
training and personal development opportunities for the long-term unemployed and economically
inactive, in the charitable or not for profit sectors – may have much to offer as a bridge back into
long-term employment.
120 ‘The Future of Work-Life Balance’ part of the ESRC ‘Future of Work’ Programme Seminar Series.
121 Choosing Health, DH (Crown copyright) 2004 – page 157.
122 ‘Work, non-work, job satisfaction and psychological health’ published by HDA in March 2005.