Population Policy
- End the government policy of growing Jersey's population through unsustainable high levels of inward migration.
- Oppose attempts to raise Social Security Contribution on working people or raise the pension age.
- Connect work permits with the worker, rather than the business, to provide more security to migrants and allow them to find the best place in our economy.
- End the two-tier rental market and allow all residents to access the qualified rental market.
Reform Jersey believes that Jersey needs a population policy based on sustainability, opportunity and inclusivity, which enables us to protect our environment, economy and quality of life.
Successive governments have implemented a growth policy which has seen our population increase at unsustainable levels, without providing the investment in infrastructure to mitigate the effect this policy has on our environment and quality of life.
The current government has provided no solutions for an alternative policy but has instead suggested we may need to consider raising the pension age and increasing Social Security Contributions on working people. Neither of these proposals are acceptable to Reform Jersey.
Reform Jersey commits to abandoning the ‘growth’ policy and instead establishing a ‘stable’ population policy through the adoption of a work permit system. This permit will be attached to the worker, rather than the employer. This will ensure the worker is protected from exploitation whilst here and allows them to be flexible in finding the most appropriate place in our economy. This will also enable us to end the two-tier rental market, which currently restricts part of our population to a limited supply of homes which are often expensive and unsuitable.
Our ability to deliver on this policy without harming our economy or access to the skills we need for our public services will be tied into our policies to address the cost of living and invest in education and training.