ermudians wholeheartedly disagree with the notion that women should have more children to counterbalance the dwindling working population on the IslandThe Royal Gazette took to the streets of Hamilton this week and asked people their opinion on statements made by the general secretary of Bermuda Public Services Union about the need for women to have more children.

Of the eight questioned all agreed that it was wrong and unreasonable to ask women to have more children.

On Monday Ed Ball, the general secretary of the BPSU, suggested Bermudian women may have to have more children to counteract the increase in the Island?s ageing population.

He said the Island needs to take a serious look at its workforce and how it will deal with a large ageing population. The issue, which many Western nations currently face, is that the Island will not have enough workers to support the large numbers of people who will be of pension age. Moreover, there are not enough people to replace the workforce, job for job, when people retire.

?If Bermuda?s (native) population is not growing it is conceivable that Bermuda will ask its women to have more than one child,? Mr. Ball said. ?I realise that is controversial but Japan is doing it and it reflects on a population that is ageing.?

Many of the women questioned felt the number of children they have was a personal decision and not something the Government should interfere with.

Most people said the Island was too expensive to ask people to raise more children, many cited out of control rents and the high cost of education.The lack of Government incentives for new families was another problem people mentioned.

Carol Redhan said people would be more inclined to increase the size of their families if Government provided child benefits.

Joanne Darrell and Karen Duffy got into a lively discussion about the topic when they were stopped in the Par-la-Ville Park. The women, who had never met, exchanged gripes about Mr. Ball?s statements.

?Other countries help people out with child care and provide benefits,? Ms Darrell said.

?In Bermuda it?s so expensive, they don?t help us out and now they want us to have more children!? Ms Duffy exclaimed.

They expressed their astonishment at the notion that increasing the size of families would help the nation out.

Nick Smale thought the question was being tackled from the wrong angle.

?There?s a natural cycle of birth and death,? he said. ?Asia is experiencing a population explosion while Western nations are seeing their populations decline, that?s not a bad thing.?

?The question isn?t how to raise the West?s population, it?s an economic one. Governments need to educate and train the current young population so they can take over jobs. The real question is how to ensure the future working population will be to support the large pension population. Providing them with training and education is the first step to answering that question.?