The Bermuda Industrial Union sets to focus on the high cost of living as one of its major themes, outside of our continuous fight for the fair and equitable treatment of our members.
 

What’s behind this publication, and what if anything can we do about it?

OUR KEY POINTS ARE:

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• Cost of Living Index is the highest in the world. Families are struggling to get by.

• Purchasing Power Index is second lowest in the selected countries behind Bahamas. Dollar does not go far.

• Cost of living index is 64 points higher than the PPI in 2022 resulting in lost purchasing power. Government may have to subsidize shortfalls

• Government spends just under a million dollars per week on financial assistance. Large out payments could encourage abuse.

• Has the highest annual income among selected countries. Still not enough to cover loss in purchasing power.

It has been reported that approximately 2,900 Bermudians have left Bermuda within the last five 5 - 7 years and many more are talking about leaving because they see no future here for themselves or their family.

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• The Cost of living is too high such as, Housing and the cost of health care etc;

• They see no future here for them and their families.

• They have no real disposable income to support their families

• Not able to have a reasonable quality of life of them and their families

 

Without major changes, Bermuda is heading into a permanent class divide, where only those who inherit wealth are able to obtain the security needed to comfortably live in this country.

The Bermuda Government has powerful levers to help with long term affordability. Chief among them is the ability to reform the tax structure. Successive governments have been reluctant to adequately address this problem. The Bermuda Industrial Union is committed to fighting the cost of living crisis. Through a series of town hall meetings, we would like to engage in dialogue with the people of Bermuda to discuss how together, we can come up with a real long -term strategy to make Bermuda more affordable.

THE DATA PRESENTED PROVIDES ENOUGH INFORMATION TO SUPPORT THE FACT THAT BERMUDA’S COST OF LIVING IS TOO HIGH.

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