Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt plans to outline a framework in his upcoming budget to get more people working in a bid to tackle inactivity blamed for dragging down Britain’s economy.
(Bloomberg) — Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt plans to outline a framework in his upcoming budget to get more people working in a bid to tackle inactivity blamed for dragging down Britain’s economy.
The initiative is aimed at plugging the country’s labor shortage by bringing back disabled people, workers with long-term health conditions, workers over 50 and parents on Universal Credit.
“Those who can work, should work because independence is always better than dependence,” Hunt said in a statement late Saturday. “We can address labour shortages, bring down inflation, and put Britain back on a path to growth.”
The changes, which will be announced with Hunt’s budget on March 15, are expected to encourage benefit claimants to get jobs or increase their hours.
Since the start of the pandemic, more than 600,000 people have dropped out of the workforce. Relative to pre-Covid trends, over a million people are missing. The shortages have left businesses scrambling for staff and in some cases reducing hours.
The trend is limiting the UK’s growth potential, drying up tax revenues and threatening to add to a pensions time bomb as baby boomers retire from the workforce.
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