Guernsey: Lack of career prospects and housing driving youth away

Young people have said a lack of career opportunities are forcing them to think about leaving home.

In a survey by Dr Nicola Brink – Guernsey’s Medical Officer of Health and Director of Public Health – housing, cost of living and transport were big headaches for the future.

Only 27% of the young people Brink heard from said they were confident in staying on the island.

Amber Thomson told BBC Guernsey: “I think that a lot of people kind of tend to go to uni[versity] and then they think, well there’s not that much opportunity for me if I come back.”

The 21-year-old studied environmental science and said she planned to move away for more career opportunities and to “see what else is out there in the world”.

She said: “Guernsey is a really, really tiny place and when you start to look at the world as a whole you realise just how small it is and how little you have seen in life.”

She valued the safety of island life but added: “I think that there’s a real gap between the young people of Guernsey and then the older generations.

“I think that it’s a real shame that we don’t have any sense of community between the two groups at all” and said it would be good to bridge that gap.