JERSEY is not having enough children.
That won’t come as a surprise to most, with the Island’s falling birth rate reported year-on-year.
And a new report has highlighted that Jersey’s birth rate has fallen to its lowest rate since records began.
The Births and Breastfeeding Profile report revealed that there were a total of 720 births to Jersey resident mothers last year – the lowest since records began in 1995.
The statistics from Public Health also revealed that the proportion of Jersey women having a baby in their 20s had nearly halved in recent years, with the proportion of mothers aged 20 to 29 giving birth falling from 42% in the 1990s to 25% by the 2022 to 2024 period.
Jersey’s average “maternal age” is now 32, slightly higher than the average in England and Wales which is 31.
The number of women having children later in life is on the rise – 32% of women who gave birth in 2024 were aged 35-and-over compared to 17% in 1995.
This newspaper asked Islanders what was stopping them from having children, with numerous Islanders aged in their 20s – both male and female – sharing their thoughts, including what they would like to see the government do to address the issues caused by the dwindling numbers of kids born in Jersey.
Unsurprisingly, among respondents to the JEP, there was a clear common denominator which emerged as the main barrier to wanting and having children at that age: cost.
There was concern regarding the cost of having another person in the household amid the cost-of-living crisis and all that entails.
Concerns were also raised about “extortionate” nursery fees, exacerbated by spiraling rental prices and the long-running difficulty of getting on the property ladder – or finding suitable social housing.
Expenditure aside, other reasons such as study and travel were frequently noted by twenty-something Islanders as priorities over baby planning and “settling down.”
Commenting on this newspaper’s online post, one father summed things up: “It is not easy being a parent in Jersey!”
A mother added: “I don’t know what the government doesn’t understand [in not assisting Islanders with the cost of starting a family].”
Abortions spike
Jersey’s abortion rate was also the highest in more than two decades last year.
The Termination of Pregnancy report showed that around 260 abortions were reported in Jersey last year, which was 8% higher than the 240 in 2022 and the highest since 2002.
Among those figures was a sharp spike in the number of women aged 25 to 29 having an abortion recorded between 2019 and 2023.
What are other countries doing?
The figures may be scary but falling birth rates are not unique to Jersey, with global rates also falling steadily, especially in the western world.
In the 1960s, the world’s average fertility rate was around five births per woman, and by 1990, it had decreased to 3.3, according to the United Nations.
Some jurisdictions have moved to do something about their low birth rates, including subsidising childcare or providing a form of family allowance. Meanwhile, others have offered tax breaks for new families or free IVF services.
Scotland has the “baby box”, Greece and Italy have given “baby bonuses”, China’s infamous “one-child policy” which was intended to bring down birth rates has now turned into a “three-child policy” to reverse the demographic damage it has wreaked, while South Korea has spent an estimated $200 billion to support its citizens to have children.
Jersey’s government funds up to 30 hours of free nursery education a week during school-time for those with children who are turning four in the school year.
But what else is Jersey’s government prepared to do?
Monday’s JEP front page cited the Chamber of Commerce’s concerns that Jersey was becoming a “smaller, older island,” which they said had “implications for every sector of our community and economy”, following the release of the latest Birth and Breastfeeding report.
This week in the States, Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham said that addressing the Island’s low birth rate was a “high priority” for his administration.
Seeking to reassure his colleagues, Deputy Farnham explained that policy was “under development” and that a workshop for States Members would be held next week on the issue.
Economic Development Minister Kirsten Morel previously said he was “confident” the government’s Future Economy Programme, launched in 2023, would “help attain the sustainable growth that our Island needs” in light of low births.
But what would people in Jersey like to see change?
Deputy Farnham’s response to questions in the States highlighted the importance of affordable family homes and cost-of-living pressures as factors contributing to Islanders’ decisions not to have children, but what do 20 to 29-year-olds think would help them start a family?
One Islander made several suggestions that the government could do which she thought would make it easier for people her age to start a family:
- Capping nursery fees
- Prevent utility companies from raising prices “unchecked”
- Lowering the age for free nursery hours to bridge the gap between 52-week parental leave and current policy that starts for children aged 3+
- Limiting how many residential properties one person or an investment company can own to boost the housing market
Ideas from the backbenches
Deputy Louise Doublet has called for more to be done to address poverty which she has said is to blame for Jersey’s high abortion rate.
Responding to a request for comment from the JEP, Deputy Doublet said there should also be an emphasis on fostering multi-generational spaces to encourage parenthood.
“I would like to see our Island becoming more family-friendly in a general sense,” she said.
“Housing and public spaces should be designed for families to enjoy, with mixed-use outdoor and indoor communal space being prioritised so that young and old can be together,” Deputy Doublet explained.
“This would reduce feelings of loneliness and isolation, which are typically higher amongst the elderly and new parents, and create larger networks of support for families to flourish within,” she added.
The St Saviour representative added that she also wanted the government to support Islanders to balance work with family life.
Testimonials
Since the online post, numerous Islanders have been in touch with the JEP…
22-year-old male: “Jersey has had an ongoing issue of young people leaving the Island which leads to a majority elder population and less young people/less families. This is an issue about housing, cost of living, wages and the lot.”
25-year-old female: “I could hardly afford rent on my own along with other bills and moved back in with family.” I don’t want to bring a child into the world that has to deal with the extortion just to scrape by”
25-year-old couple: “We do want children within the next few years. However we do not feel that Jersey is the place to be for that and we are planning on moving away from the Island next year… It is our wish to bring up children in a house, however small, with a garden and a parking space. We do not feel that this would be possible in Jersey.”
29-year-old female: “The cost of daycare is really huge. It would be my entire salary.”
23-year-old female: “Jersey’s young people are so barely able to get a semi-decent place to live because everything is so expensive… I wouldn’t put a child through living that life.”
‘Repeatedly discussed leaving’
One response, which the JEP has published in full, read:
“I’m 27 and my husband is 24, and we’re in what many would consider a privileged position: we rent a home at an affordable rate through a family connection, we both have promising careers, and we have a decent household income.
“Becoming parents is something we have both always wanted. And yet, despite working full-time since our teens, sacrificing travel, and putting every ounce of effort into building a future together, raising a child still feels out of reach.
“The reason is simple: the costs are obscene.
“Nursery fees are extortionate – there’s no other word for it. Over £2,000 a month for childcare is not just unsustainable; it’s insulting in an island where taxpayers’ money is squandered on vanity projects like the redesign of New Street. Successive governments have stood by and allowed nursery fees to skyrocket without even considering regulation. This failure alone tells young families exactly where priorities lie, and it’s not with us.
“Families in Jersey are crying out for help. At an age where our hard work should start paying off and providing advantages, my generation is hit again and again by economic barriers, while an older generation points the finger at ‘lifestyle choices’ and assumes we’re bad at managing money. Meanwhile, the number of families turning to food banks continues to grow on this island of millionaires.
“I don’t doubt there are individuals within the government who care deeply about this issue. But caring isn’t enough. Unless the current and future governments take action soon, they will be complicit in hollowing out Jersey’s community. They will drive away the very people this island needs not just to survive, but to thrive.
“My husband and I have repeatedly discussed leaving. I can’t bring myself to move away from my family, but I know many others who have, forced to choose between raising children and staying near their loved ones.
“That isn’t a ‘life choice’ it’s evidence of the failure of an elected government.
“Our generation grew up in houses but will raise our children in overpriced flats. We had grandparents helping with childcare but will rely on strangers because our parents can’t retire. For the first time, a generation will have less to offer their children than they had themselves.“
