{"id":7579,"date":"2026-09-16T18:14:29","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T18:14:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/?p=7579"},"modified":"2026-09-16T18:14:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T18:14:31","slug":"younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2026\/09\/16\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\/","title":{"rendered":"Younger workers less likely to be absent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a>
Prof. Sir Cary Cooper is a world-leading expert on workplace wellbeing, occupational health psychology, women at work and occupational stress<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Murray Sherriffs<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research suggests that anywhere between a third to a half of people in the UK work when sick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The younger generation get the snowflake tag thrown at them, but it’s untrue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So says University of Manchester psychologist Sir Cary Cooper, who is one of the world’s leading experts on workplace wellbeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data from the Office for National Statistics supports this view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workers aged 16-24 took an average of 2.4 days off sick last year, compared to 6.2 days for those aged 50-64.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Younger workers are more likely to work in roles where there is little security, such as zero-hours contracts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are also less likely to suffer from long-term health conditions and joint problems that are major contributors to sickness absence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Older generations have perhaps been more willing to put up with things, but that doesn’t necessarily make that approach healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYounger workers seem more willing to view mental wellbeing as part of their overall health rather than something that should simply be pushed through\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Murray Sherriffs Research suggests that anywhere between a third to a half of people in the UK work when sick. The younger generation get the snowflake tag thrown at them, but it’s untrue. So says University of Manchester psychologist Sir Cary Cooper, who is one of the world’s leading experts on workplace wellbeing. Data<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nYounger workers less likely to be absent - Newscoverage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2026\/09\/16\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Younger workers less likely to be absent - Newscoverage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Murray Sherriffs Research suggests that anywhere between a third to a half of people in the UK work when sick. The younger generation get the snowflake tag thrown at them, but it’s untrue. So says University of Manchester psychologist Sir Cary Cooper, who is one of the world’s leading experts on workplace wellbeing. Data\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2026\/09\/16\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Newscoverage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/robert.frank.90834\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-16T18:14:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-16T18:14:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Cary-Cooper-web.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"380\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"410\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"editor robert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"editor robert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/16\\\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/16\\\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"editor robert\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3\"},\"headline\":\"Younger workers less likely to be absent\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-16T18:14:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-16T18:14:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/16\\\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":193,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/16\\\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/Cary-Cooper-web.png\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/16\\\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/16\\\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\\\/\",\"name\":\"Younger workers less likely to be absent - Newscoverage\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/16\\\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/16\\\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/Cary-Cooper-web.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-16T18:14:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-16T18:14:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/16\\\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/16\\\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/16\\\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/Cary-Cooper-web.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/Cary-Cooper-web.png\",\"width\":380,\"height\":410},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/16\\\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Younger workers less likely to be absent\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Newscoverage\",\"description\":\"newscoverage.org\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3\",\"name\":\"editor robert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8218f97425a88f0212b8636d21d09c56391445f892db32b08ed4f8e5613c37ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8218f97425a88f0212b8636d21d09c56391445f892db32b08ed4f8e5613c37ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8218f97425a88f0212b8636d21d09c56391445f892db32b08ed4f8e5613c37ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"editor robert\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/robert.frank.90834\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newscoverage.org\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/editor-robert\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Younger workers less likely to be absent - Newscoverage","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2026\/09\/16\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Younger workers less likely to be absent - Newscoverage","og_description":"By Murray Sherriffs Research suggests that anywhere between a third to a half of people in the UK work when sick. The younger generation get the snowflake tag thrown at them, but it’s untrue. So says University of Manchester psychologist Sir Cary Cooper, who is one of the world’s leading experts on workplace wellbeing. Data","og_url":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2026\/09\/16\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\/","og_site_name":"Newscoverage","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/robert.frank.90834","article_published_time":"2026-09-16T18:14:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-09-16T18:14:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":380,"height":410,"url":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Cary-Cooper-web.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"editor robert","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"editor robert","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2026\/09\/16\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2026\/09\/16\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\/"},"author":{"name":"editor robert","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/#\/schema\/person\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3"},"headline":"Younger workers less likely to be absent","datePublished":"2026-09-16T18:14:29+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-16T18:14:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2026\/09\/16\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\/"},"wordCount":193,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2026\/09\/16\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Cary-Cooper-web.png","inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2026\/09\/16\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\/","url":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2026\/09\/16\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\/","name":"Younger workers less likely to be absent - Newscoverage","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2026\/09\/16\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2026\/09\/16\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Cary-Cooper-web.png","datePublished":"2026-09-16T18:14:29+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-16T18:14:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/#\/schema\/person\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2026\/09\/16\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2026\/09\/16\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2026\/09\/16\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Cary-Cooper-web.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Cary-Cooper-web.png","width":380,"height":410},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/2026\/09\/16\/younger-workers-less-likely-to-be-absent\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Younger workers less likely to be absent"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/","name":"Newscoverage","description":"newscoverage.org","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/#\/schema\/person\/fc82a2a747f4a72f7a4833658ab077a3","name":"editor robert","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8218f97425a88f0212b8636d21d09c56391445f892db32b08ed4f8e5613c37ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8218f97425a88f0212b8636d21d09c56391445f892db32b08ed4f8e5613c37ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8218f97425a88f0212b8636d21d09c56391445f892db32b08ed4f8e5613c37ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"editor robert"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/robert.frank.90834"],"url":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/author\/editor-robert\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7579"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7581,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7579\/revisions\/7581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newscoverage.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}