Call for pensions reform to help ageing population

A business consultant has urged the Jersey government to introduce statutory workplace pensions to help improve quality of life for an ageing population.

Kevin Keen said the government should introduce measures ensuring staff were automatically enrolled in work pensions unless they opted out.

Jersey's government was criticised last summer for shelving plans for auto-enrolment pensions.

It comes ahead of a conference looking at how the island can address the challenges of people living longer.

Under the leadership of Deputy Kristina Moore, the previous Council of Ministers had been developing policies to force businesses to offer workplace pensions to their staff.

However, the current social security minister, Deputy Lyndsay Feltham, changed course, saying her priority was to "support employers and workers in the transition to a living wage".

Speaking in August last year, she said: "Planning for retirement and planning for pensions into the future is a very good thing.

"We know that not all employers are currently offering pension schemes, and I would encourage employers to do that.

"But I think it's a very difficult thing for me... to have said to people that they need to put money aside for the future when they can't afford to put bread on the table now."

The minister said work to introduce a workplace pension scheme had been paused and her hope was it would restart within the next 12 months.

Mr Keen said auto-enrolment schemes, used by other countries, should be implemented in Jersey.

He said: "Guernsey have got that, Australia have had it since 1992, the UK had it since 2012. Jersey is sitting on its hands for some reason... they really should get a move on and get that started.

"The earlier you start saving for your retirement the more chance you've got of, what's called, compounding - helping build your savings."

Jersey's first conference to consider how the island needs to adapt to the population getting older takes place later in May.

The Island of Longevity conference has been organised by a group which feels islanders need to work with government to "reimagine ageing" and shape a future "where living beyond 100 becomes the norm".

The island's latest population report showed the number of people aged 75 and over was expected to increase by around 50% over the next 20-30 years.

Co-founder Joe Dickinson said: "More and more people will start to live longer so how does that affect the way we live? Employment, education, health - all these issues need to be addressed."

The conference is on 21 May at Jersey's Pomme D'or Hotel.