Millions of Britons would rather “stay home and watch daytime TV” than get a job, shocking new figures show. The nation’s “workshy” have been exposed in the latest stats from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) which shows an alarming fifth of the workforce are either out of work or not seeking work.
On top of this, new analysis from the DWP’s Policy in Practice reveals 3.9million people on out-of-work benefits have no “work search requirements” – meaning they can cash in on their benefits without having to look for employment.
It comes as a senior Conservative MP said that young people who turn down jobs should be drafted into the armed forces to ease the productivity of the country.
Richard Drax who sits on the Defence Select Committee made the comments as more than nine million people of working age have dropped out of the jobs market.
“In some cases, particularly among some of the young, they have got to a point where, for whatever reason, they’re not prepared to contribute to our country and to serve their country,” The MP for South Dorset said.
“If they’ve refused three offers of a job, or whatever the number would be, and they say ‘I’m sorry, I’m not doing any of that’, you then say – in which case you must go and do two years in the Armed Forces.”
GB News’ Darren Grimes has also responded with outrage, blasting “workshy” Brits who won’t do “an honest day’s labour”.
In a furious rant on X, he said: “Hundreds of thousands more of Britain’s feckless and work-shy have decided that lounging about at home watching This Morning is preferable to actually getting off their arses and doing an honest day’s labour.”
The main reason cited for the growing number of people out of work is long-term illness, with a recent report also suggesting people in their early 20s were more likely to be not working due to ill health than those in their early 40s.
This falls alongside an increase in poor mental health believed to be the cause.
There are wider concerns of how shortages in the workforce could be affecting the economy after the UK fell into a recession at the end of 2023.
