Households on benefits continues sharp decline

Wednesday 16 November 2016

Figures show the number of households wholly reliant on benefits continues to fall sharply in Jersey with only 13% of all households on income support last year.

Deputy Geoff Southern asked Social Security Minister Susie Pinel how successful she had been in achieving the aim of reducing poverty in the Island.

A report last year said there had been considerable progress made in the battle to get Islanders off benefits.

The report said: “The previous five years have seen a significant decrease in the percentage of income support households that are wholly reliant on the weekly benefit as their source of income.”

In 2011, 18% of all households were on income support and although that figure rose to 19% the following year, since then it has continued to fall and it stood at 13% in 2015.

The biggest percentage fall in income support groups was amongst adults with children, which has declined from 6% in 2011 to just 2% last year.

Adults without children on benefits has gone down from 34% in 2011 to 25% in 2015, while single adults with children has dropped form 20% in 2011 to 14% last year.

Figures also show that the percentage of working age households with no adults in employment has decreased from 60% in 2011 to 49% in 2015.

The percentage of children in working age households with no earned income has also fallen sharply, from 39% in 2011 to 28% last year.