BRIEFING Post-pandemic participation - Exploring labour force participation in the UK, from

While there has been significant attention paid to the specific cohort of older workers who have left the labour force since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been Resolution Foundation Post-pandemic participation | Exploring labour force participation in the UK, from the 6 Covid-19 pandemic to the decade ahead little in the way of policy suggestions about how to boost employment among. [...] However, largely thanks to the introduction of the furlough scheme, the impact of the pandemic on unemployment was much better than feared: despite the pandemic leading to the worst recession for 300 years, the unemployment rate peaked at just 5.2 per cent, the smallest rise in any recession in living memory.8 In fact, by 2022, the UK labour market was tight, with the unemployment rate falling bel. [...] Resolution Foundation Post-pandemic participation | Exploring labour force participation in the UK, from the 13 Covid-19 pandemic to the decade ahead Notably, the fall in labour force participation in the UK is greater than that in the US, where stories of the ‘Great Resignation’ or ‘Great Retirement’ are well-discussed.10 In fact, the 16-64-year-old labour force participation rate in the US has r. [...] Inactivity due between the middle of 2019 and the to long-term sickness or disability has middle of 2022 look very different risen fastest in the North East and the across the UK, with the labour force East Midlands, while inactivity due to participation rate for adults aged 16-64 retirement has risen fastest in London falling by 3 percentage points in the and the South East. [...] Resolution Foundation Post-pandemic participation | Exploring labour force participation in the UK, from the 33 Covid-19 pandemic to the decade ahead SPA must be announced by May this year, and it is expected that the SPA will rise to 68 in the 2030s instead, with the policy decision being focused on whether that should be during the middle or end of the decade.33 The fiscal attractions of a highe.