By Bernard Place
Introduction: A personal unease
I BELONG to a generation that was told – and for the most part believed – that hard work would bring reward, and that our children would naturally have more opportunities than we did. For many Baby Boomers, that promise largely came true. We bought homes when prices were still within reach of an average salary, studied without crushing debt, and entered a workforce where secure pensions were still part of the deal.
Yet when I look at my children’s generation, I see a very different picture. The old social contract is breaking down. Effort no longer guarantees reward, and worse, the gap between those who start life with advantage and those without is widening. This is not just an abstract injustice: it is lived daily by younger Islanders in housing markets, in education, in the workplace, and in their family lives.
Housing: From ladder to wall
Jersey is not without initiatives in this area. Andium Homes already operates the First Step shared-equity scheme, which provides up to 40% of the purchase price of selected properties as an interest-free loan. This has helped some first-time buyers onto the ladder, but it is limited in scale and does not directly address the situation of younger Islanders who cannot raise a deposit in the first place or who are locked in the rental market for years.
A First Home Pathway would build on the principle of First Step but extend it further: creating a structured rent-to-buy model, focused on Islanders under 35, where part of each rent payment is converted into equity. After five or ten years, tenants would have accumulated a deposit, giving them a tangible route into ownership. The message would be simple but powerful – that sustained effort and commitment in Jersey can still lead to the security of a home.
Education: Promise or burden?
Jersey has made progress in supporting students. Grants now cover tuition up to £9,535 a year, with a further £9,138 available for maintenance. These increases are welcome and ease the burden for many families. Yet the system remains heavily means-tested, leaving those on middle incomes in a difficult position – not poor enough for full support, but not wealthy enough to pay the difference without strain.
A Graduate Guarantee would build on this framework. By widening support for middle-income households and linking education effort to structured pathways into housing and employment, the Island would send a clear signal: study hard, return to Jersey, and your commitment will be recognised and rewarded. That would help ensure higher education is once again a ladder of opportunity, not a source of division.
Pensions: Paying more for less
On pensions, the Island has held the line reasonably well. The States pension remains a relatively stable foundation, and younger workers are encouraged to contribute to private defined-contribution schemes. But the imbalance with earlier generations is obvious: Boomers often benefited from defined-benefit (final salary, index-linked) arrangements and accessible housing wealth, while today’s workers face higher contributions for less certainty.
A new approach would not discard what exists but enhance it. Government could introduce matched contributions for younger workers, particularly in their early careers when saving is hardest but most valuable. Alongside clearer projections of likely outcomes, this would restore trust that contributions today will mean security tomorrow. Even modest reforms would show that the system recognises the generational imbalance and is prepared to act on it.
When inequalities compound
The injustice does not fall evenly across generations. Boomers without assets continue to struggle in later life. But those with property and wealth are able to pass them on, easing their children’s path through housing and education.
Meanwhile, those without inherited advantage face compounded pressures: high rents, student debt, and weaker pension prospects. Instead of narrowing the gap, Jersey’s economic structures risk entrenching it. This is the heart of intergenerational injustice: not simply age versus youth, but privilege reinforcing itself across generations.
Agency: A lost promise
The word agency may sound abstract, but the idea is simple. It means believing that your choices and your efforts will shape your future. Agency is what motivates people to study hard, to save, to plan families, to put down roots. It is the psychological core of the social contract.
But agency is fragile, and in Jersey today it is being eroded. I see younger Islanders delaying or giving up on the idea of having children because they cannot afford stable housing. I hear them question the point of saving for pensions they doubt will ever materialise. They work long hours in demanding jobs yet still feel they are running on the spot.
This is not laziness, as critics suggest. It is rational behaviour in an environment where effort and reward are increasingly disconnected. And once agency is lost, it is hard to rekindle. Without hope that effort matters, people disengage – from work, from saving, from civic life itself.
Conclusion: A boomer’s responsibility
As a Baby Boomer, I cannot claim credit for the advantages that came my way. Nor can I deny that many of those advantages were structural – affordable housing markets, generous pensions, subsidised education. The real question now is what responsibility my generation has to those coming after us.
We cannot undo the past. But we can shape policies that give younger Islanders back their sense of agency – the belief that hard work, study and saving will actually lead somewhere. That is the essence of fairness and, without it, Jersey risks losing the energy, hope and commitment of its younger generations.
The intergenerational contract was never perfect, but it once carried a promise: that children would have opportunities to do better than their parents. Today that promise is fraying. It is our duty – Boomers, policymakers, and citizens alike – to repair it.
A registered nurse for nearly 40 years, Bernard Place has been a clinician, teacher and researcher in intensive care units. From 2012 he managed departments in Jersey’s healthcare system and from 2015 to 2019 was the clinical project director for Jersey’s new hospital.
