British Politics (Fixing the NHS and Welfare State): What Has Gone Wrong?
It is a big problem that so many people are relying on benefits, especially due to mental and physical problems.
I am in the category whereby I am unemployed, considered fit for work, with no restrictions. However, I got so ill physically with a chest infection that I ended up in hospital with a chest infection and on oxygen. I had to report being in hospital to the DWP and was meant to provide a 'fit note' within 7 days. I am out of hospital but not fully well, needing to get to a GP for paperwork, but too unwell to travel to GP presently, especially as I am not managing to get one locally. A lot of problems stem from almost everything being done online, with artificial intelligence involved.
Finding work is not easy either. I apply for jobs all the time and often get no responses or unhelpful ones. In particular, I get sent spam from organisations that I apply for, such as jobs in other cities far away or with job requirements I don't have. So many of the 'middle' range jobs are vanishing in the information era. There is the option of applying for lower positions but when I do I usually get rejected or hear nothing.
Also, with the whole idea of getting the long- term sick back to work, part of the problem is that in a competitive society, preference is given to the most able. Employers don't admit to discrimination but it happens. There is also a trend towards what are considered to be Equal Opportunities details, which used to be separated and anonymous, being included in the main section, which means that discrimination can begin at the application stage.
The whole emphasis on getting people back to work often rests on assumptions about laziness. It ignores the way in which physical and mental health problems affect performance. Attempts to get the unemployed and long-term sick back to work need to go beyond telling people that work is good for them. Working may often help but it also causes stress, just as being expected to survive without financial resources impacts upon health.