Social Security Contributions Hit £403m in 2024

Islanders and businesses contributed £403m to Jersey’s social security scheme in 2024, according to a new report from the Policy Centre – the first in-depth study of the system since 2017.

Of the total contributions, 40% came from employers, 34% from employees, 6% from the self-employed, and 19% from taxation.

The report also showed £387m in benefits were paid out last year, with pensions accounting for the largest share at £255m.

The Health Insurance Fund provided a further £52m in benefits, including £19m for prescriptions and £9m in dispensing fees.

Despite the scale of the scheme, Jersey’s contribution rates remain well below those in the UK, where employees pay a basic rate of 8%, plus an additional 2% for higher earners.

Policy Centre senior adviser Sir Mark Boleat described Jersey’s system as both “comprehensive” and lower-cost than the UK’s, but noted that its workings had often lacked transparency.

“Jersey has a comprehensive social security system which provides a wide range of benefits at a lower cost than the UK system,” he said. “But how the system works has been opaque.”