Young individuals pushed away from Guernsey by excessive costs | EUROtoday

Guernsey’s younger individuals don’t see a future within the island, based on a brand new examine.

The Quality of Life Report 2025 was compiled by the Guernsey Community Foundation (GCF) which discovered younger individuals had been being “driven away” by rising residing prices.

It additionally discovered that 22% of pensioners,19% of youngsters and 17% of working age adults lived in relative poverty in Guernsey.

Jim Roberts, the inspiration’s chief government and co-author of the report, mentioned it was “intended to stimulate discussion before and after the election”.

The report is the primary of its sort and makes a variety of observations based mostly on beforehand printed knowledge and a survey of three,000 islanders.

The report discovered that 5% of islanders, about 3,200 individuals, typically go with out necessities like meals and heating.

Half (51%) of the poorest households don’t have carpets or flooring coverings in each room and greater than a 3rd (38%) don’t have a mattress for each individual within the family.

The report discovered that in some circumstances the dearth of a mattress was all the way down to price, however extra typically it was as a result of a scarcity of bedrooms, so relations had been pressured to share beds.

The GCF is a charitable organisation that conducts analysis, proposes modifications to social coverage and works with different charities to attach individuals in want in Guernsey.

Mr Roberts mentioned the consequences of poverty did “not appear to be fully or widely appreciated”.

He mentioned the excessive price of residing meant “Guernsey is driving its people away”.

“Concerns about rising living costs and difficulties finding somewhere affordable to live are forcing some residents, especially young families, to move away, or to plan to move away.

“Even although they wish to keep, they do not see a future right here, and that ought to concern us all.”

Mr Roberts said the report also highlighted that young people are experiencing more bullying and have lower self-esteem than ever before.

“A number of the island’s younger individuals are hurting. Low shallowness, bullying, poor psychological well being, nervousness in regards to the future.

“They are growing up in an island that is different to the one that their parents and their grandparents grew up in.”

The fee of excessive self worth amongst pupils at colleges dropped by 22% between 2016 and 2022.

Guernsey’s subsequent common election is on 18 June 2025 – see a full checklist of the candidates right here.