Nearly half of Year 10 and 12 students do not consider Jersey a viable place to build a life and career, according to a recent survey – with over a third of sixth form students planning to leave the island for university and not return.

The Children and Young People’s Survey, conducted by Statistics Jersey and published last week, revealed that young women are more likely to want to study and work off-island than their male peers.

According to the findings, 42% of females intended to go to university and seek a career outside of Jersey – compared to 24% of young men.

Students from fee-paying schools (70%) are significantly more likely to pursue a university education compared to their peers from non-fee-paying schools (37%).

Pictured: Males were more likely to consider Jersey as the right place to build their life and career.

The survey also found that nearly half (46%) of Year 10 and 12 students do not consider Jersey a viable place to build a life and career, with only 36% feeling confident about their future in the island.

Affluent students were more likely to see a future in Jersey, according to the findings.

Over a third of Year 10 and 12 students from families with average or above average finances agreed or strongly agreed that Jersey was the right place to build a life and career.

In comparison, only a quarter of young people from families with below average finances felt the same way.

Pictured: Considerations about whether Jersey is the right place to build a life were strongly linked to family finances.

The sense that young people are leaving the island and not coming back reflects a demographic challenge that can also be seen in Jersey’s population changes.

Data from Statistics Jersey shows the number of islanders in their 20s and 30s has dropped by 7% between 2017 and 2023, while Guernsey recorded a 6% increase.

The decline is particularly pronounced among 20- to 24-year-olds in Jersey, where the population fell by 13% over this period, compared to Guernsey’s 2% decrease.

The continuing trend may spell trouble for the island, with the Government already having acknowledged skills shortages in certain areas of the economy.

A previous report estimated that Jersey would need a population of 150,000 people by 2040 in order to maintain the living standards that all islanders enjoy.

However, with birth rates at their lowest since 1945 and a consistent trend of young adults leaving, achieving this target appears increasingly difficult.