Title page
Contents
SUMMARY 5
1. OUR HEALTH AND ECONOMY 7
2. QUANTIFYING THE BENEFITS 16
3. BUSINESS INNOVATIONS AND THE GREEN SHOOTS OF A HEALTH-LED ECONOMY 24
4. HEALTH IN ALL INDUSTRIES 38
REFERENCES 58
APPENDIX 65
TABLE 1.1. Estimated industry revenue from purchases above government guidelines of products in 2022 12
TABLE 4.1. Possible areas of job quality and their indicators for the Healthy Work Premium 40
TABLE 4.2. Options to strengthen the life sciences 44
TABLE 4.3. Opportunities to support a health transition in food and drink 46
TABLE 4.4. Opportunities to support healthy leisure and transport 47
TABLE 4.5. Potential areas for targets, levy and regulation in health harming industries 50
TABLE 4.6. Public attitudes on tax and regulation of health-harming industries 51
TABLE 4.7. Sick pay entitlements in select European countries 55
FIGURE 1.1. The UK lags on healthy life expectancy 7
FIGURE 1.2. Healthy life expectancy has fallen behind international standards everywhere except London 8
FIGURE 1.3. The UK has a high rate of employment compared to peers in the G7 10
FIGURE 1.4. Though there has been improvement in some job quality indicators, we are seeing increases in low autonomy jobs and jobs that negatively affect... 11
FIGURE 1.5. The UK has low levels of investment compared to other G7 countries 13
FIGURE 2.1. The estimated cost of working through sickness far outweighs that of taking sick leave 19
FIGURE 2.2. Those with long-term conditions are far more likely to work through sickness than those with no long-term condition 20
FIGURE 2.3. Those with long-term health conditions take more sick leave than those without long-term health conditions - especially men with mental health conditions 20
FIGURE 2.4. Job quality also matters - those in the low-quality jobs are far more likely to work through sickness 22
FIGURE 2.5. Those with the lowest education, income, less skilled occupations and minority ethnic backgrounds are more likely to work through sickness 23
FIGURE 2.6. Many people felt that their workload and their financial constraints were reasons why they did not take sick leave 23
FIGURE 3.1. Three pillars of a health-led economy 24
FIGURE 3.2. We are seeing far more people with long-term conditions in work 25
FIGURE 3.3. The rate of employees suffering from work-related ill-health is growing 26
FIGURE 3.4. There have been increases in the number of female night-time workers since 2012 28
FIGURE 3.5. Healthier foods grew in price more than unhealthy foods in 2023 30
FIGURE 3.6. Those in the most deprived areas of England are twice as likely to be living with obesity 31
FIGURE 3.7. Fewer farmers are taking actions to reducing greenhouse gas emissions 32
FIGURE 3.8. The public support businesses reporting on their health impacts 34
FIGURE 3.9. UK Pension funds have been growing steadily before the pandemic 35
FIGURE 3.10. Major supermarkets can be doing more to support healthier choices 36
FIGURE 3.11. The rate at which the gender pay gap is narrowing is slowing 37
FIGURE 4.1. Innovation diffusion curve 52