From tomorrow, and for the next year, households in Jersey may receive a letter to say they have been randomly selected to be part of the Jersey Living costs and household income survey. This survey takes place once every five years.
Over 12 months, around 3,000 households will be chosen at random and asked to take part. A trained Statistics Jersey interviewer will visit each selected household and take them through the survey.
Statistics Jersey use the results of the survey to update the cost of living (‘RPI’) and to make sure it continues to reflect the goods and services that Islanders are buying. The RPI is a key economic measure, and is used to uprate a variety of benefits. It is also often used for pay negotiations, rent increases and in maintenance agreements.
The survey also allows us to find out how household incomes and income inequality are changing over time in Jersey. For example, are households with lower incomes less well off than they were five years ago compared to households with higher incomes?
All information collected for the survey is treated as strictly confidential and identifiable household information will not be shared with anyone outside of Statistics Jersey. The information will be used to produce grouped statistics and no person or household will be identifiable in the results.
When the survey was last run five years ago, many households who took part found it an interesting and useful budgeting exercise, and were positive about being part of something that is so important to Jersey. Participating households are offered the chance to be entered into a quarterly prize draw to win £300.
Government of Jersey Press Release