‘How can we help couples to have more children?’

Honestly, what a question to ask the island’s population. The States are about to introduce the most effective contraceptive upon the islands entire population – GST. And we’re being asked such a question when the answer is so obvious.

Before we even look at the question, surely the States should be looking at why young couples are leaving the island and how to retain them. And the numbers are not small, in fact they are increasing. They are leaving to find better places in which to bring up their children. Why, do I really have to spell it out?

The crazy cost of living. Food, clothing, housing, all are far more expensive than in the UK where prices include 20% VAT. For years we’ve been told the reason is mainly down to freight charges. The truth is, possibly for the small retail outlet, but for the large supermarkets, the orders they place are so large, that the shipping becomes ‘free’.

The empty shelves we see so often are not always due to delayed shipping, but because they don’t place an order, until the order is large enough to include ‘free shipping’.

Then you look at the state of our schools, the level of education is no longer high enough for those who would otherwise excel. No Grammar, no scholarships to Elizabeth College. The States has taken close on 30 years to do nothing, except argue and as with everything else, kick the can on down the road. Time and time again.

Whatever happened to ‘A stitch in time saves nine?’ The States has a fixation on the number nine, they never do anything until it’s too late. La Mare de Carteret School was 15 years past its sell-by date before they even looked at it.

Now after another 20-plus years, instead of having built it, the £6m. they wanted to save will now cost the island so much more. Not forgetting the amount of money they’ve also spent on patching it up. We now cannot afford to do anything, except knock down schools. Hmm, but we can afford to extend the island’s arts centre, push forward stupid and ridiculously-priced schemes, continue to look at extending the runway, pay consultants’ fees and not listen. The States is good at only one thing – and that is to waste the island’s money. Computer system ring any bells?

So, first we have to give young couples a reason to stay and build a life here. They need to see a future, what future?

How to have more children … What about those children whose lives are taken in an instant due to our free and easy way of life that now enables us to sign away the life of an unborn child – at the stroke of a pen.

Almost without question and certainly without reason, their death warrants are signed. Regardless of whether or not that child is viable, we no longer care. That unborn child never gets the chance to see the light of day. Yet, you dare to ask how can we help. First stop killing the unborn child.

What is the number-one reason that the unborn child’s life is terminated – it is not because there is anything wrong, it is not because either mother or child is in danger, it is not because they are unwanted, neither that the mother is career minded or the woman has been coerced into having an abortion. No, the number-one reason is, they simply cannot afford to bring a child into this island.

And to compound that, still further, they are neither offered nor given, any other option, but abortion.

There are so many ways to help, both couples and those who are faced with no option, but abortion. That in itself is a traumatic experience, especially for the woman. A large number never get over the experience of losing a child, in whatever manner. And many, find that later, they cannot have another child. An abortion is often, not just a death sentence for the unborn child, but also the hope of the woman in later life of having another child.

You would be surprised at the number, who if given other options, would instantly change their minds. This also applies to couples, who but for the expense of having a child, wouldn’t hesitate.

Today, couples both have to work. Long past is the time when the woman could afford to stay at home and look after a child, while the man went to work. It’s called survival. And such comes before one considers bringing a child into this island, let alone the world. There is no future standing before you, no future to be seen. Why such a dark outlook, ask the States of Guernsey, they alone are responsible.

Why do we hold elections – why do we even vote? They tell us what they think we want to hear. Then when elected, go off and do whatever they please. Long gone are the days when they even seemed to care. When was the last time they acted quickly, when was the last time we could see that the States of Guernsey, actually put the island and the population first? Just before the position came with a wage.

When you first bring a child into the world, it is a daunting task. Financial help wouldn’t go amiss. Then when the mother has to return to work, not everyone has a mother who is able and willing to help. The cost of childcare is astronomical, so much so the mother or father might as well stay at home. Then there isn’t enough cash to put food on the table, let alone clothe everyone, pay the utility bills. I mean the standing charges alone are enough to cripple you.

You want to help couples to have more children? Then the cost of living needs to go, down, down and down. The States are asking too much, even for the average earner. And that is before they even dare consider having a child, let alone more.

Childcare, that is an area that couples also need help with. I mean, this question is being asked during a time of continual taking, the States want more and more and expect us to increase the island’s population at the same time. They haven’t got the brains they were born with, they talk a load of twaddle. Then they wonder why nothing gets done, improved, let alone fixed.

The States are inactive when they should be on their toes, then overactive when it’s almost too late and expect us to do the impossible at the last minute. A stitch in time saves nine, and right now, even nine isn’t enough. The island’s finances have been breached.

To even begin to help couples to have more children, you have to offer them a future, a reason to remain, security and affordable housing. How long has that been promised? And that still isn’t enough. You might have just covered their own immediate future, but what of their children? You want to help them to have more, then you also need to consider the future of their children as well.

Right now, there isn’t a single child who faces a future with any real and foreseeable prospects. As for a bright future, not on this rock. Even the island’s education system no longer offers any real prospects. Especially for those who are brighter than those who are considered average. Already, too many people are flooding in from outside, because we haven’t got enough highly educated local people to fill those positions. And the truth is, we are turning away those who have. Why, because though they are qualified, they as yet do not have the experience. The result is they never return to the island. They leave, settle down, raise a family and gain the experience elsewhere. Why come back? They are likely not to even be considered local by this time. And why should they uplift their young family and come back to the island, and to what?

So, that’s another loss to the island, both to the island’s workforce in areas that the island struggles to fill. What do we do? Continuously bring in outside workers, because we cannot fill the positions locally. And whose fault is that?

Honestly, and I’m thinking of our nurses here – wouldn’t it be to the island’s advantage in so many ways, that when a nurse who is local qualifies, instead of turning them away for lack of experience, for the hospital to employ them? Train them in the way the hospital operates and at the same time gain their experience here.

The island would then gain, rather than lose locally-qualified nurses, bring in fewer outside nurses, and reduce the hospital’s reliance on agency staff. This would further reduce the cost to the island. It costs the island more to bring in qualified nurses, we also pay for their accommodation, still need to train them in our ways. Then at the end of their contracts they leave. And so the circle never ends.

It would also help if we actually paid our local nurses a decent wage, they’ve been underpaid and overlooked for far too long. You don’t require qualifications to push a pen.

This would also add a greater incentive amongst the island’s local population, to consider nursing as a career. Right now, the island is showing the door to the very people it needs to retain, and the cost to the island isn’t just financial. Look at the question.

There are many reasons as to why couples require help and they need to be addressed, before looking at ways in which couples can be encouraged, not just helped to have more children.

The States of Guernsey must first begin by taking an extremely close and serious look at themselves. Every problem that this island is now facing, began with the States of Guernsey. They will only end, when the States begins to undertake what they are employed and paid to do, their job and to take it seriously. They need to get their act together. Act decisively, without constant delay. They need to stop abstaining and vote. If they are abstaining, then they are either not doing their job or don’t have enough information, then get it – before you hold a vote. Above all, put the needs of the island first and foremost. Seek advice from within, not from outside. Guernsey is unique, and outside consultants rarely provide the answer. They do not know the island.

The truth is that this island would not be in its current position if the States of Guernsey – past and present – had acted swiftly and without delay. They knew the island’s present predicament would come. Instead of trying to prevent it, immediately. Instead, they waited until zero hour before reacting to what had now become a crisis.

While the future continues to look bleak, no young couple in their right mind, is going to consider having one child, let alone more.

Guernsey right now doesn’t have much of a future and we’ve known this for quite some time. Any serious consideration by young couples will be given, not as to whether or not to have children, but as to where they see their future lies. Right now, it’s unlikely to be Guernsey.

John De Carteret