Islanders going without essentials, survey finds
Getty ImagesThe rising cost of living is being felt in more than 80% of households in Guernsey and Jersey, according to a survey.
Island Global Research (IGR), a market research and consultancy company, found 10% of respondents in Jersey and 7% in Guernsey could not afford their living costs and often have to go without essentials.
The findings came from an online questionnaire of 2,660 residents – 672 from Jersey, 744 from Guernsey, 1,013 from the Isle of Man and 231 from Gibraltar.
The survey asked about respondents’ financial position, recent changes to their outgoings and their opinion more generally on inequality in living standards today and in the future.
Channel Islands headlines from the survey
- In Jersey, 49% of respondents reported finding it difficult to meet living costs in the past 12 months
- Of those surveyed 88% in Jersey and 86% in Guernsey agreed the rising cost of living was impacting their household
- In Jersey, 36% of respondents have found it difficult to meet the cost of food, up six percentage points on the 2022 survey
- In Guernsey, 37% of respondents reported finding it difficult to meet the cost of home maintenance, up 10 percentage points on the 2022 survey
- In Jersey, 13% of respondents could not afford an unexpected but necessary expense of £100
- Around a third of those surveyed in Jersey were extremely concerned about the future impact changes to cost of living will have on their household
IGR said the survey "suggests that cost of living is continuing to affect the same proportion of our populations".
It said: "We hope the insights provided by this survey can help our communities make informed decisions, as concerns and uncertainties remain around the future of the cost of living."
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