Low income in Jersey households

WQ.184/2021

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHIEF MINISTER BY DEPUTY G.P. SOUTHERN OF ST. HELIER QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 26th APRIL 2021 ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 4th MAY 2021

Question

In light of the difficulties in generating data on relative low income in Jersey households prior to June 2022 (as stated in Written Question 145/2021), and given the necessity of obtaining data on poverty in the pre- Covid period for comparative analysis, will the Chief Minister commit to taking whatever measures he sees as essential – up to and including the engagement of additional staff to process existing data obtained from the 500 homes already surveyed via the 2019/2020 Income Distribution Survey – in order to provide a basis for understanding the economic trends around Covid-19?

Answer

Statistics Jersey have identified a window of availability of an experienced analyst, following the peak census operations in summer 2021, and plan to use this to complete the quality assurance, coding and analysis of the data obtained from the sample of 500 households prior to the fieldwork being suspended in March 2020. If the data is assessed to be of sufficient quality and quantity to produce robust headline statistics on household income distribution and relative low income, then these will be published as soon as possible on completion of the analysis. These will be headline statistics, and will relate to household incomes prior to the impacts of COVID-19 from March 2020 onwards.

It should be noted that regular insights regarding the economic trends around COVID-19 are already available via the following reports:

• Economic indicators report (published weekly) presents statistics and indicators in the following areas:

• Actively seeking work (registered unemployment)
• Income Support
• Business Disruption Loan Guarantee Scheme
• Visitor Accommodation Support Scheme (VASS)
• Coronavirus Government Co-Funded Payroll Scheme (Phases Two, Three, Three+ and Four), including a sectoral breakdown
• House prices and transactions
• Road and public transport usage
• Monthly passenger departures from the Island

The most recent of these reports, published in April 2021, can be found here.

• Labour Market report (published biannually) provides statistics on the number of jobs filled in Jersey, by sector and size of business, over time. The most recent of these reports, published in December 2021, can be found here.

• National Accounts (published annually) details the size of the Jersey economy, by industry, for the previous calendar year. The GVA and GDP for 2020 will be published on 1 October 2021. In 2020, Statistics Jersey also published some experimental statistics in quarterly revenue and GVA estimates in the non-finance sectors to help estimate the economic impact COVID-19 has had on Jersey. The most recent of these reports, published in April 2021, can be found here.

• Registered Actively Seeking Work (published quarterly) gives detail regarding the number of people registered as actively seeking work (ASW) with breakdowns available by sex, age and nationality. The most recent of these reports, published in April 2021, can be found here.

• The Business Tendency Survey (published quarterly) gives detail overall and for each industry sector around the activity levels, profitability and employment in their business and an indication of their future expectations. The most recent of these reports, from March 2021, can be found here.

• Retail Price Index report (published quarterly) provides the headline rate of inflation, as well as rates of inflation for pensioner and low-income groups. The most recent of these reports, published in April 2021, can be found here.

• The Average Earnings Survey (published annually) provides information on how the average earnings of workers in Jersey changes over time. The most recent of these reports, for June 2020 can be found here.

Should the Deputy consider it helpful, the Chief Minister would be happy to facilitate a meeting with Statistics Jersey for him.