Bermuda must face the challenges facing the Island’s seniors, according to Age Concern chairperson Erwin Adderley.

Speaking at a Progressive Labour Party open forum on Monday, Mr Adderley said the ageing population is causing a greater burden on the Island’s young people.

“There is a real problem with the elderly in Bermuda. Our only system of finance is based on the working class looking after those who cannot work. The workers pay for the needs of people as they get older. What we are beginning to find out is that the working class is shrinking quite significantly.

“The problem is that in 2010 the population between the ages of 20 and 44 was 22,000. The population of those over 44 was up to 28,000, which means we already have a situation where we have more people that are going to be retiring or already retired than we do in the workforce.”

He said that the average age of Bermudians is expected to be 46 in 2020, increasing the financial burden of young people to support their elders. He also noted the rising cost of healthcare, which puts some seniors in desperate financial systems.

Moving forward, he argued that new legislation and programmes need to be introduced to support the Island’s seniors, and help younger Bermudians manage the burden of caring for seniors.

Mr Adderley suggested a scheme in which people are rewarded for learning how to care for their elder family members at home to decrease the pressure on the healthcare system, while offering a subsidy so that they can modify their homes to better suit seniors.

He also called for education programmes to help people deal better with the challenges of old age, and stronger legislation to protect seniors from unscrupulous children.

Another speaker at the forum, Bermuda Public Services Union president Jason Hayward, also noted the growing concern. Addressing more than 200 audience members, he said the Island’s unions should get more involved in such social issues, supporting not just their members but the community as a whole.

“We cannot be passive on issues that affect people’s lives,” he said. “While these issues do not affect union members exclusively, we should expect to see unions speak up on such issues.”

He noted the positive impacts of the trade unions, including their struggle to get workers health insurance, vacation time, sick days and pensions.

While he said that for a time the trade unions became more insular, they have begun to expand and look outwards again, working together and speaking out on the shared issues that affect their memberships.

“It’s important that us as unions don’t stick or go back to the place where we just deal primarily with our members,” he said. “We have to deal with society as a whole.”

Mr Hayward also said that more needs to be done to educate young people about what the trade unions are, their history on the Island, and what they can offer.