Around six in ten of Bermuda?s residents would like the opportunity to work in Europe or North America, according to a poll conducted for .

But the Caribbean is the least appealing of the three options canvassed in the poll conducted earlier this month by Research Innovations for the newspaper.

The poll may have particular relevance now given the increased debate over Independence. Bermudians have had the right to live and work in Europe since 2003.

However, as the Bermuda Independence Commission reported last September, this right would likely end if Bermuda became an Independent nation with the UK expected to withdraw Bermudians? conferred status as British citizens, thereby ending the present day open gateway for Bermudians to work and reside within the UK and Europe.

Nonetheless, the lure of working in North America or the UK and Europe is attractive to around 60 percent of the population, according to the latest poll.

Bermuda residents are most interested in working in the US or Canada, with 33.2 percent saying they are very interested and 27.7 percent saying they are interested for a total of 60.9 percent.

Just 23.7 percent said they were not interested.

When it comes to living and working in the UK and Europe the figures are almost identical with 32.5 percent ?very interested? and 27 percent ?somewhat interested?, giving a total of 59.5 percent.

Only 23.4 percent declared no interest.

Opportunities in the Caribbean attracted 22.1 percent of high interest and 16.5 percent of interest for a total of 38.6 percent showing a level of interest, whereas a third of all those polled 33.6 percent had no interest in working in the region.

Those under-35 are keenest to take up the opportunity of living and working in North America, with 58.2 percent of those aged 18-35 saying they are very interested in the possibility and a further 29.7 percent being somewhat interested ? for a total of 87.9 percent.

Between men and women it is women who are most favourable to moving to the US and Canada with 38.2 percent expressing the highest degree of interest in doing so, compared to men of whom only 27.2 percent showed the highest interest although 33.5 percent were ?somewhat interested? in moving to North America.

Some 23.7 percent of all those polled in the survey of 403 residents said they had no interest in going to live or work in North America, and amongst the over-55s some 41.7 percent said they were not interested in doing so.

Regarding the chance to work in the UK and Europe, the pollagain showed it was women who expressed the highest level of interest in working in the region, with 35.6 percent being ?very interested? compared with only 27.6 percent of men feeling likewise, however amongst men the highest number 31.4 percent, were ?somewhat interested?.

Those aged under-35 were keenest to take up the opportunity with 57.1 percent saying they would be very interested in doing so and 24.2 percent being somewhat interested, while for those aged 35-54 the biggest percentage were ?somewhat interested? in doing so, and amongst those over 55 it was seen as a unpopular choice with 38.1 percent expressing no interest in going to live and work in the UK or Europe.

The Caribbean is the least popular destination for working and living out of the three featured in the telephone poll.

In a breakdown of income groups those with a household income of less than $50,000 were most keen to work either in North America or the UK and Europe with 40.2 percent and 38 percent respectively saying they would like to do so. In the same income category only 28.3 percent said they would be interested in living or working in the Caribbean, with 37 percent saying they had no interest.

A quarter of all middle-income earners with household incomes of $50,000 to $100,000 were very interested in working in the US or Canada, with slightly more 35.7 percent being ?somewhat interested?.

For the UK and Europe the figures were almost identical with slightly more, some 34.1 percent, being highly interested in doing so. But for the Caribbean the largest percentage, 36.8 percent, said they were ?not very interested? in that opportunity and a further 25.9 percent said they had no interest.

Amongst the top household income bracket, those with over $100,000 per year, 31.8 percent said they were very interested in going to the US and Canada to live and work, with just over half saying they had little or no interest in doing so. The same group were also mostly interested in similar opportunities in the UK and Europe, with 29 percent being very interested.

There was very little difference in the preferences of people whether they were black, white, Asian or mixed race, although Asians were the most interested in work and living opportunities in the Caribbean.

The survey was carried out between May 1 and May 4. The margin of error was 4.9 percent.