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Sky-high cost of family life
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Luxuries such as alcohol and tobacco are much less affordable than in the past. Moreover, the prices of essentials, ranging from food to fuel, appear to go up relentlessly.
Any Islander who has to budget – and that will include many who, by UK standards, are well off – will be fully aware of the pressures imposed by the high cost of living. In spite of this, information about the cost of bringing up children here is likely to surprise even the most financially aware of non-specialists.
Analysis undertaken by financial adviser Kevin Allenby suggests that bringing up a child in the Island from birth to 21, the traditional age of majority, costs twice the £220,000 that recently released data identifies as the average in the UK.
It seems that the average for Jersey currently approaches half a million pounds – a sum guaranteed to make prospective parents wonder whether they can afford parenthood.
Costs which affect all members of the community obviously have an impact on families with children, but providing adequate childcare imposes additional burdens. Paid-for childcare itself in an obvious extra, but Mr Allenby’s analysis also looks at the consequences of moving to a larger property with more bedrooms and the high cost of private schooling – a form of education seen as very desirable in our community.
But, as Mr Allenby says, many parents simply grit their teeth and somehow manage to make ends meet. However, he also offers some invaluable advice. Unforeseen factors such as illness or redundancy can rapidly mean that ends no longer meet. In view of this, it makes clear sense for families to find at least a little extra to insure against adversity. There is an income support safety-net, but it does no more than prevent those who fall on hard times from destitution.
Meanwhile, there is something both depressing and disturbing about the present situation. Jersey may have seen more boom years than bust years in the past four or five decades, but it is easy to understand why some look back nostalgically to the times 30 and more years ago when a single income was generally enough to meet the costs of bringing up a family – costs which included mortgage payments as well as all other outgoings.
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