Many Cleaners Leave Jobs Due to Injury or Illness

One in four professional cleaners in Europe will leave the labor market before their retirement age due to injury and health issues according to statistics from the Trades Union Congress (TUC), European Cleaning Journal reports. In comparison, only one in 10 of people working in professional occupations does the same.

TUC figures also show that Black, Asian, and other minority workers are more likely to leave their jobs early due to sickness or illness than white workers due to structural inequalities affecting minority workers.

“All workers should be able to retire in dignity with a decent pension when the time is right,” said TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady. “But many older workers—particularly BAME [Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic] workers and those in working class professions—are obliged to stop earlier due to ill health. They must not be consigned to years of poverty and sickness.”

The TUC figures also revealed that twice as many older workers have left the labor market due to sickness compared to younger workers, with 97,000 people aged 50-65 leaving their profession during the pandemic.