A THIRD of pensioners were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in recent years, twice that of the UK, a new report has revealed.
And over a quarter of households in general were at risk, according to Statistics Jersey’s income distribution report.
The report, which looked at the average earnings of Islanders before and after their housing costs in 2019/20, randomly sampled over 200 households each month.
It found that 27% of households and 22% of individuals were living in ‘relative low income’, which is defined as household income below 60% of the median income – in 2019/20 this was those who earned less than £480 per week before housing costs or £410 per week after housing costs.
According to the report, those with relative low incomes were at risk of ‘poverty or social exclusion’, including one in three pensioners – double the proportion in the UK.
Islanders living in rental accommodation spent, on average, around a third of their income on housing costs – the same proportion as in 2014/15.
Statistics Jersey said that the income distribution survey was stopped early due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so did not give a full picture of both years.
Initial data from the 2021 census released last month showed that Jersey’s population had grown to 103,267 by 21 March last year. It revealed that the number of vacant properties grew significantly in the decade to census day last year, with 8.3% of the Island’s housing stock empty on census day.
The income distribution report also showed that the average household income in Jersey in 2020/21 before housing costs was £1,040 per week, while after housing costs it was £890 per week. This was a 9% increase, adjusted for inflation, on the average in 2014/15.
The median income, which is the middle value in the set of data and is less affected by outliers such as the highest earners, who could skew the average, was £790 per week before housing costs and £690 per week after housing costs. This was also a 9% increase, adjusted for inflation, when compared to the median in 2014/15.
Meanwhile, a previous bulletin on housing, released earlier this week, found that 25% of housing was under-occupied.
