Incapacity for work among the insured population of Great Britain.

The Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance usually receives between eight and nine million new claims for sickness and injury benefits in a year and records certified incapacity for work totalling nearly 300 million days. Detailed analyses are made from the records of spells of incapacity for work in respect of 5 per cent. of the insured population. These analyses are designed to show the extent and causes of incapacity, as given on the medical certificates, among different age groups and in different areas: broadly they show the position over the course of a year running from the first Monday in June, and at the end of the period. Illnesses which do not cause incapacity for work are not covered,