We Need an Ethical Population Policy

Chief Minister Alf Cannan has said the island needs to develop an ethical population strategy, while enhancing its long-term offering to workers.

Growing the island’s population to 100,000 residents is a cornerstone of the draft economic strategy, which the gov hopes will underlay policies for the next 15 years.

Speaking at the oddly named Select Committee on Population Rebalancing, Mr Cannan said that the population plans, which aim to boost the number of working age residents, while exploring ways to deter non-workers from moving to the island, would be the first time an administration had set out with such a policy.

He said: ‘One of the first questions that we need to ask ourselves in meeting what we’re setting out to do in terms of an economic strategy is what an ethical, meaning, population strategy will translate to in terms of the policies we apply both in terms of incentivisation and in terms of disincentivastion and how they are applied ethically and morally appropriately.

‘I suspect there are quite a number of difficulties in determining that, but nevertheless we look to what KPMG have written in their report to us and the highlighting in that report of the disparity in the age demographics, the impacts of the continuing ageing population on the island and the reasons why rebalancing that would be advantageous to the long-term sustainability of the island.’

Mr Cannan went on to outline that even between 2016 and 2021, where there was growth in the working age population, this was ‘largely been in the older age group’, with the far fewer people in the 20-39 age bands and ‘relatively few’ people below working age.

He said that if this wasn’t addressed the imbalance of workers and retirees would grow and place further strain on the gov’s finances and services.

He added that this period also saw a furthering in wealth disparity, saying ‘in essence, the wealthy got wealthier and the disposable income of lower income household has reduced’ and that the island faces an uphill battle to attract young skilled workers when faced with strong competition.

When asked by committee member Paul Craine MLC about wether the island needed to long beyond simply incentivising workers towards long-term societal and economic change, the Chief Minister said: ‘The whole point is this is not compositely about one particular strand of policy, this is an all encompassing strategic objective which means, for example, we will have to address some of our key offerings, our key infrastructure, the key deliverables that any government is seeking and those include health and education, the right social particularly and the ability of the infrastructure to cope.

‘This is not about one in isolation, incentives or disincentives for individuals who are thinking of moving to the Isle of Man, this is about creating a whole national environment that will add to the attractiveness of the island, particularly for the working population, both to want to come here but also for those who grow up and are educated here to want to stay on the island, so it’s a very holistic approach that needs to be taken if you are going to delver on the economic strategy.’