Calls for government taskforce to tackle poverty

A coalition of charities, schools and businesses is calling on the government to create a taskforce to tackle poverty.

An open letter to Jersey's council of ministers warned evidence had shown too many families were "at breaking point" as they struggled with the cost of living and one in four children were living in a relative low income household.

Patrick Lynch, from Caritas Jersey - one of 13 organisations who signed the letter, said the island's government needed to work with them as they "have the expertise" to help.

The Government of Jersey has been contacted for comment.

Among the organisations to sign the letter include Caring Cooks, the Jersey Community Foundation and Mind Jersey.

Mentorhood Jersey, Milli's Separated and Step Family, La Petite Ecole Group of day Nurseries, Geomarine, Haute Vallée School, Brighter Futures, Khora Partners, Jersey Child Care Trust and Freeda also signed the letter.

The group said five other organisations and government agencies had also signed the report.

Lynch said: "We need to get the right people in the room and we've had some preliminary discussions with government and we hope that that is something that they will look to do."

The letter described how incomes had "stagnated" whilst the cost of living had risen sharply, "eroding living standards over time".

It said because of this low and middle-income families were having to make "impossible choices every day" such as cutting back on food and heating and working multiple jobs at the detriment of their mental health.

The letter also said evidence suggested more than a third of homes struggling financially.

Lynch said the new government needed to back up what they called for during the election campaigns.

He said: "Every candidate, all of the 92 candidates, seemed to know and want to use the term cost of living or cost of living crisis.

"Our growing frustration during April and May and into the beginning of June was that they all talked about it, but never seemed to quantify it or actually give any ideas of which would actually fix the problem."

Organisations said if the issues were not addressed, Jersey could see a reduced participation in the workforce, increased pressure on health, education and social services and poorer outcomes for children and young people.

The letter said Jersey could not "build a sustainable economy on financially unstable families".

It added: "Jersey, as a small island, has a unique opportunity to design something better: a system that is joined-up, accessible and built around real lives.

"But this will require bold and systemic change, not incremental adjustments."

Recommendations from the letter included working with the signatories to explore what families were facing in real terms, understanding where current systems were falling short, developing "practice, sustainable and ambitious solutions" and building a "more joined-up and preventative approach to family wellbeing".

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