People and community

Children's opinions and lifestyle

Statistics about what life is like for children and young people living in Jersey

Children and young people statistics are collected regularly through the Children and Young People’s Survey (JCYPS). The survey is usually conducted every other year, during the school day to ensure all children have the opportunity to take part. Participation is anonymous and individual results are never published; only aggregated data.

Latest data

The latest children and young people’s data comes from the 2024 JCYPS survey. Watch the short video for a summary of JCYPS 2024 and see more data in the next section, ‘Characteristics of young people’

Characteristics of young people

The JCYPS asks questions about children’s home life and background.

Roughly a third of children live in the urban parish of St Helier, another third in the suburban parishes of St Saviour, St Clement and St Brelade and the final third in rural parishes. About three quarters live with both parents together, one in ten share time between parents.

Children’s health

The survey asks about children’s health, and health related behaviours such as sleep, diet and exercise…

Three quarters of children report being in good or very good health. But less than half got eight or more hours sleep the previous night, Only a quarter of children ate five or more portions of fruit or veg the previous day; but eighty six percent brushed their teeth at least twice

Leisure time

…and about how children and young people like to spend their free time.

twenty percent of year ten children stayed outside their home after ten pm with no adult present at least weekly. Less than a quarter of all children did the recommended level of physical activity each week. Most popular out of school activities were visiting friends or family; and playing sport with a team or club. Thirty nine percent of children had spent over five hours on screens (outside of school) the previous day.

Risky behaviours

The survey tackles serious issues such as smoking, drinking alcohol and drugs use… areas where good data is not always easy to find. This is particularly important to counter anecdotal evidence about the behaviour of young people.

Eighty one percent of year tens and fifty nine percent of year twelves had never smoked. But, sixty percent of year twelve have tried e-cigarettes and twenty five percent currently use them. Fifty five percent of young people have never consumed alcohol . Twenty one percent of year twelves have tried cannabis

E-safety

As technology changes, it is important to know how children and young people are using it; and how it is affecting them.

Sixty three percent of year six children owned a smartphone... rising to 100% of year twelve.

Mobile phone ownership is increasingly common with children and young people…

…but this can lead to pressures and risks

Fifty nine percent of all children had a social media account in their own name. thirty seven percent of young people had sent messages to a stranger online. Thirty six percent of girls feel pressure to look or appear a certain way on social media.

Wellbeing and self-esteem

The pressures of modern life can negatively affect children’s wellbeing. JCYPS uses internationally tested measures to track the wellbeing of Jersey children.

Boys were happier than girls in all age groups. The proportion of children worrying about the way they look increases with age; from fourteen percent of year fours, to forty percent of year twelves.

Data sources and methods

The data source for children and young people statistics is the two-yearly Jersey Children and Young People’s Survey (JCYPS). The last JCYPS took place in October 2024 with results published in March 2025. The next JCYPS is planned for October 2026.

Find data and past reports and questionnaires

Find past reports on our release calendar.

Here are links to the previous survey questionnaires:

Summary of survey questions 2010-2024

Survey questionnaire 2024

Survey questionnaire 2021

Survey questionnaire 2019

Survey questionnaire 2018

Survey questionnaire 2014

Survey questionnaire 2010

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