A new year long research study looking at how people live in the island has made a number of data led claims laying bare the struggles that some of us have and what some people want to change to make living here better for everyone.
It has looked at topics like life satisfaction, inclusion, stress, poverty, and suicide.
On suicide, the report confirms Guernsey’s high rate, saying “there is a consistent pattern of more suicide deaths among males than among females”.
Other findings concern increasing levels of violence and affording health care.
The Quality of Life Report 2025 was commissioned by the Guernsey Community Foundation.
It shows that making ends meet is directly linked to happiness and wellbeing and it says “Guernsey is driving people away” with younger people in particular struggling financially.
The report does also state that there is a lot to be thankful for.
The data
The report has been split into 13 sections, or ‘observations’, covering topics ranging from ‘Richer tends to mean happier’ and ‘Young people are suffering’.
It also analyses if Guernsey is becoming more violent.
The alarming statistics about suicide came from the Mortality Trends study and show that more than 100 lives have been lost to suicide over the past twenty years.
“Of the 104 deaths between 2002 and 2021, 74% were male and 26% female,” said the report. “And that for males, suicide deaths are highest between ages 20–59 with a pronounced peak from 20 to 29 years. On average there were four deaths per year for males over the last 20 years, compared to one per year for females.”
The theory that ‘life is a tougher when you’re poor’ is also backed up by new research from the Living In Guernsey survey, which the Foundation commissioned for this report.
Carried out last summer, it had more than 3000 responses.
This data proves that financial stability has a direct correlation to life expectancy, stress levels, and an individual sense of belonging.
“Islanders at opposite ends of the wealth spectrum are essentially living in different places,” the report says.
“There’s no reason to overcomplicate this: in Guernsey, the better your financial position, the more satisfied you are with your life.”
The Community Foundation’s Chair, Sir Richard Collas said the report doesn’t offer solutions to any of the problems it has highlighted, but it is an attempt to answer some questions that repeatedly come up.
“The Foundation has always been about improving islanders’ quality of life. But how does one determine quality of life? This report is our attempt at answering that question,” he said.
Jim Roberts, the Foundation’s Chief Executive and the report’s co-author, said the data shows that “Guernsey is driving people away” and he thinks everyone should be concerned by its findings.
“Taken as a whole, the report reveals the extent to which your financial situation affects your life – from your happiness to your life expectancy, your stress levels to your sense of belonging. Work–life balance, mental health, loneliness, experience of public services, hope for the future – in Guernsey, virtually everything is tied to your ability to make ends meet.
“Secondly, Guernsey is driving its people away. As evidenced in particular by individuals’ responses to the Living in Guernsey Survey, concerns about rising living costs and difficulties finding somewhere affordable to live are forcing some residents, especially young families, to move away, or to plan to move away. Even though they want to stay, they don’t see a future here, and that should concern us all.”
“There’s no reason to overcomplicate this: in Guernsey, the better your financial position, the more satisfied you are with your life“
Comparisons between wealth, ill health and true demand for local healthcare services was singled out also, with a section saying: “Unlike the UK, it’s easy to get a GP appointment in Guernsey and that we don’t have queues for A&E. While this may be the case, data suggests that the true demand for local healthcare services is masked because people who can’t afford them tend to avoid or postpone using them.”
The report ends by looking to the future, unpacking what islanders would like to see change.
With the data proving that many young people are struggling financially, more so than older islanders, the cost of living was top of the list of things that people would change, followed by housing, work and income, and healthcare.
Referring directly to the cost of living, the survey responses given including suggestions that better control of rising food costs, lower prices for utilities, and affordable childcare would all help to reduce individual’s financial burdens.
The responses also say reducing the cost of on- and off-island transport needs addressing.