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‘Beautiful Jersey’, the island’s adopted national song goes… but is it really? New analysis has shown how Jersey outranks most nations when it comes to health, living space, safety and a sense of community... but islanders also have less disposable income, a worse work-life balance, and let’s not talk about political engagement…
The 'Better Life Index' is a measure by the OECD which recognises that there is more to every nation than economic statistics, and aims to rank jurisdictions by various standards that take quality of life into account.
Every two years, Jersey is ranked against these standards and a report produced showing where the island sits compared to other member nations.
It's a measure the Government takes seriously – in her Chief Ministerial vision statement, previous top politician Kristina Moore outlined an aspiration to return Jersey to a 'top 20' position in the rankings.
However, the latest comparison, which was published this morning, shows the island is continuing to fall short of this target, currently sitting in 26th position out of 41 nations – a ranking largely driven by low civic engagement levels, the cost-of-living, and overall life satisfaction levels sitting at 32nd place out of 41.
But there were also several positives to be drawn from the latest results, as Express explores...
The Index found Jersey to have higher levels of employment among individuals aged 25 to 64 (82% compared to 74% across the OECD).
While islanders also earned more on average, Jersey was found to be lagging behind when it comes to disposable income, with islanders in 2021 having around $27,360 to play with – roughly £5,000 less to spend than those living elsewhere. Overall, the island ranked 21st out of 41 nations in the category of income – no change from when the last Index produced two years ago.
Around one in seven employees in Jersey worked 50 or more hours in the week – a higher proportion than in the UK where it was roughly one in 10, according to the stats.
The education and skills dimension is measured by the percentage of people aged 25 to 64 years, that have at least an upper-secondary qualification7. The proportion in 2021 for Jersey (83.5%) was slightly higher than in the UK and 5 percentage points higher than the average across the OECD
It was more positive news in the area of education, which is measured by the percentage of people aged 25 to 64 years that have at least an upper-secondary qualification.
The proportion in 2021 for Jersey (83.5%) was slightly higher than in the UK and 5 percentage points higher than the average across the OECD – this placed the island in 20th place out of 41, which was two places better than at the last ranking.
Jersey ranked eighth for health status out of 41 – five places better than in the previous rankings.
This was largely driven by life expectancy levels among islanders, which currently stands at 83.4 years – as many as four years more than the OECD average.
Around three-quarters of islanders rated their health as “good” or “very good”, which was a similar proportion to the UK.
People living locally were found to enjoy more living space compared to residents of most OECD countries – with each resident occupying an average of 2.1 rooms compared to an average of 1.8 across nations. In Jersey, only 0.5% of households did not have an indoor flushing toilet for the sole use of their household, compared with 3% across the OECD.
However, islanders also have to shell out much more for these roomier and more well-equipped homes – with nearly a third of income being spent on housing. This was nine percentage points greater than elsewhere.
Overall, this meant the island ranked 28th out of 41 for housing standards, one place lower than the last Index.
Jersey made great gains in the category of ‘personal safety’, rising six places to claim eighth position.
Roughly four out of five islanders (85%) reported that they felt safe walking alone at night, compared to 68% in the UK, and Jersey’s homicide rate was significantly lower at 0.6 per 100,000 compared to 5.9 across other OECD nations.
Feelings of ‘community’ were measured by the percentage of people who have someone they can rely on in times of need – the percentage of people in Jersey that did (96% in 2022) was higher than in all OECD countries except for Iceland (ranked top), Norway, and Finland.
Continuing a trend of several years, Jersey ranked bottom for civic engagement. This was based on low voter turnout.
For environmental quality, Jersey ranked in 18th position out of 41, which was two places lower than in 2021.
This was partly fuelled by the fact that air quality on the island was lower than the updated World Health Organisation guideline value set.
However, 85% of people said they were satisfied with water quality which was above the UK (82%) and OECD average (84%).
Learn more about the 'Better Life Indicators' here.
Jersey's political engagement among lowest in the world (2022)
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