Young people report compares responses by parish

The report is designed to help parishes plan children's services

A new report has been published that compares the experiences of children and young people by parish.

Statistics Jersey's report asked a broad range of questions covering language, ethnicity, health and whether young people aged up to 19 years saw themselves as part of their community.

The report found about 30% of the island's children live in St Helier, which had the highest levels of ethnic and linguistic diversity, with 41% of children in the parish not speaking English exclusively at home.

The report based on the Jersey Children and Young People's Survey (JCYPS) 2024 was designed to help parishes give "due regard" to children's rights when planning and delivering services.

The report found St Saviour and St Helier had the highest proportion of children speaking Portuguese.

St Brelade had the highest proportion of young people speaking other languages in their households which did not exclusively speak English.

Figures showed the proportion of children attending fee-paying schools was lowest in St Helier (20%) and highest in St Martin (51%).

Lower levels of fruit and vegetable consumption and reduced sleep duration were more commonly reported among children in St Helier, the report found.

Statistics Jersey said St Brelade had the highest proportion of children meeting recommended daily physical activity levels (27%).

Screen time

When asked about screen time, more young people in St Helier and St Clement reported five or more hours a day, while the lowest levels of screen use were recorded in St John and St Martin.

The report found volunteering by children was most common in St Ouen (53%) and least in St Helier (29%).

Children in St Ouen were also found to most likely feel they had a meaningful voice in their community.

Confidence in the police was also found to be highest in St Ouen (78%) and lowest in St Helier (57%).

Statistics Jersey said it had found no significant parish-level differences in regular smoking, alcohol use, or drug use but a higher proportion of children in St Helier and St Saviour said they had never tried alcohol.