IN the 1990s the States and a variety of non-governmental agencies were talking excitedly about the eradication of poverty. Now, as we enter the second decade of the 21st century, poverty – at least in relative terms – is still very much a part of Island life.

The politicians and others who launched the eradication programme should not be taken to task for their efforts, but it is now apparent that their vision of what could be done to remove inequalities in our society was too optimistic and perhaps naive.

The sheer intractability of the poverty problem was one reason for this, but it is also true to say that there was a dearth of reliable data on which to base policy. It would scarcely be an exaggeration to say that well-meaning, sincere people were bent on abolishing poverty without knowing in any detail what it was in the Island context.

Against this background, the research effort which has just been launched by the Income Support Scrutiny sub-panel should be warmly welcomed. Through subjective reports as well as parallel exercises based on rigorous statistical methods, the sub-panel is setting out to answer a fundamental question: who can afford to live in the Jersey that we know today? Thanks to the Statistics Unit, politicians already have access to a wide variety of data relating to income distribution and household spending patterns. The new survey, however, will flesh out dry figures with personal observations on hardship and information about what Scrutiny sub-panel chairman Deputy Geoff Southern describes as the ‘pinch points’ in people’s budgets.

Meanwhile, Deputy Southern has also promised that the sub-panel’s investigations should, by the end of the year, answer a further important question: just how much higher is the cost of living in Jersey compared with other jurisdictions?

It is quite clear that the work now under way represents an ambitious attempt to get to grips with fundamental issues that should be of concern to everyone in this community, whether rich or poor. That said, there is a degree of realism in the sub-panel’s approach which is not only commendable, but should also deliver results which will provide a solid basis for future policy – including the possible refinement of Income Support, the package of measures in which so much faith has been invested as our major weapon in the battle against deprivation.