The impact of gender and age

It is a recognised fact that women have more sickness absence than men and the public sector employs a higher proportion of female workers. The causes of sickness absence (see page 10) vary by gender too. In ONS figures for 2013, men lost around 1.6% of their hours due to sickness (down 1.1 percentage points from 1993) while women lost 2.6%, down 1.2 points. Women working in the public sector saw the biggest decline in their sickness absence rate, followed by men in the public sector.

Sickness absence increases with age, although it has fallen for all age groups since 1993. The highest proportion of hours lost is in the 50-64 age range. The level of sickness falls after state pension age is reached as those with health problems are more likely to have left the labour market. However, following abolition of the default retirement age more people are extending their working lives and health in old age will be an increasingly important part of sickness absence policy in future.