Long Covid pushing people into inactivity

New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) confirm a link between having Long Covid and being economically inactive (not working and not looking for work), .

Between July 2021 and July 2022, the inactivity rate among working-age people with self-reported Long Covid grew by 3.8 percentage points, compared with 0.4 percentage points among working-age people without the condition.

In July 2022, 23.3% of people aged 16-64 years with self-reported Long Covid were economically inactive, compared with 21.4% of those without it.

The relationship between Long Covid and inactivity was strongest for people aged 50-64, where the higher odds of inactivity compared with pre-infection peaked at a 71.2% increase among people reporting it 30 to 39 weeks post-infection.

“[This] analysis shows that working-age people are less likely to participate in the labour market after developing Long Covid symptoms than they were before being infected with coronavirus,” ONS statistician Daniel Ayoubkhani explained.

“This relationship is strongest among people aged 50 years or above. Long Covid may therefore have contributed to the decreasing levels of participation seen in the UK labour market during the coronavirus pandemic.”

Responding to the figures, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Ministers must ensure everyone with Long Covid is recognised as disabled under the Equality Act. Long Covid must also be recognised as an occupational disease.”