The key to tackling poverty is through hard work and education says Bermuda College Economist Craig Simmons.

He said if Government could subsidise full-time adult students rather than have them spend years toiling away at night courses those marginalised workers could get up the career ladder quicker.

He told The Royal Gazette: "You could find having someone retrain full-time would be better for society because a person would begin to earn a higher wage and pay taxes again and wean themselves off social support.

"I am arguing in favour of full-time retraining, not part-time."

He said improving the lot of Bermuda's underclass needed care.

"Those people living on the margins of society make us feel bad – guilty even. But the road to hell is paved with good intentions. You have to think very carefully about what is the best way to help people living on the margins.

"I would say education – upgrading your skill sets is one such way. But in the short term some kind of housing allowance is a help but that is a stop-gap. The moment people become dependent on support that creates its own problems."

Low-skilled jobs are paying less and less in the global environment because there were more low skilled people chasing fewer low skilled jobs, said Mr. Simmons.

"A road sweeper's wage is indicative to the value that society places on it.

"The number of poor is shrinking in relative terms. Bermudians are in fact moving up the socio-economic ladder.

"Those people who are well educated are the people doing very well.

"It would appear if you want to solve the problem of poverty you solve the problem of education – make it as widely spread among the population as possible.

"But it's distressing to know that only six in ten Bermudians have anything beyond high school education."

And it will require a lot of resources to get under-educated people back on track.

Retraining via the Bermuda College is already heavily subsidised by Government said Mr. Simmons – but that didn't mean it was easy for those trying to take that step, particularly if they have families.

"They don't just need educational support they need child support – many of these people are single parents and many of the poor in Bermuda are single parents.

"Most of the people coming back for re-training are women and they tend to have children. Their education and child care needs cannot be separated. You need to bundle them."

But he said the costs of not training Bermudians was bringing in trained foreigners to an already over-stretched economy and environment.

"One of the best predictors of a person's future income is the educational level of the mother. So if we are interested in alleviating that problem we need to better educate women."

He said women were already seeking out retraining and further education more than men.

"So in fact women are doing it. It may not be happening at the rate that is socially and politically desirable but women on their own are making this happen.

"I think young people need to understand that if you decide to become a single parent then in fact you are very likely to be poor.

"Postponing the day in which you decide to have children will have profound impact on your standard of living. That is beyond dispute."

He said a low income person who hooked up with another in the same boat could double their household income so their economic opportunity would expand.

But the moment children were introduced, problems magnified. Postponing enlarging the family could buy the unskilled couple some time to retrain.

However rushing into raising a family while not getting retrained was a recipe for enduring poverty, said Mr. Simmons.

Bermuda's declining birthrate was a testament to the realisation of the costs of raising children, said Mr. Simmons.

"Poor people tend to have more children than rich people."

Asked why, he said: "I am afraid to say that perhaps richer people, or middle class people, are doing the careful calculation.

"They are more careful about the number of children they will bring into the world because they want a certain standard of living for their children so they need to provide them with education which is costly.

"That's one possible explanation.

"But those without the education don't understand that education is expensive.

"We are already providing completely subsidised education for people between five and 16."

Mr Simmons said Bermuda had not dealt well with the losers created while the rest of the Island reaped the benefits from international business but he said it was important to differentiate between absolute poverty and relative poverty.

"There will always be poor people. By definition."

But the middle class and wealthy sector was expanding.

"These well-to-do people are not in the habit of letting you know they are doing very well. They are silent.

"Bermuda's involvement in international business has definitely benefited the Island as a whole – Bermudians as a group are definitely better off, the poor are better off than they were in the past."

"But according to the household expenditure survey about one in four Bermudians live below the poverty line which should draw the concerns of our politicians."

Mr. Simmons said he wasn't sure if tax cuts for the poor would help much given rates of payroll tax only stood at 4.75 percent now.

"I don't know if that would make things better for this group although the idea is noble. Whether it would improve the standard of living for this group is another story."

He said the welfare system in Bermuda wasn't generous at all.

"Any dynamic society, almost by definition you are going to be creating a marginalised class, the issue for Government is how do you deal with them?

"You cannot get away from the welfare state – call it what you want – essentially that's what we are having to create. It's really a question of do we have the political will to do it."

He said a minimum wage – which doesn't seem to be on the radar screen of either party – clamped business and would, if anything, hurt those who most needed the help.

And to be worthwhile, it would have to be in the region of $15 an hour which would encourage business to mechanise.

Mr. Simmons agreed food was pricey but Bermuda was extremely isolated which put the cost up.

One alternative would be to put controls on food prices but it's not recommended, said Mr. Simmons.

"As our brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe have discovered – whenever you put controls on the prices of food you are essentially taking the incentive away from food producers to supply food."

He said market-determined prices had helped ensure Bermuda doesn't ever have food shortages.

"The moment Government starts messing with the prices of food you will have shortages."

Bermuda's tax structure was more efficient because income was not taxed so the incentive to work was not being penalised, said Mr. Simmons.

"There are no capital gains taxes to dissuade people from making intelligent investments. There are no profit taxes that dissuade entrepreneurs from doing what entrepreneurs do."

"The way you alleviate poverty is through people working hard and being educated."

"You can avoid tax in Bermuda, work very hard, take your income home and don't consume. Or consume the things that bear low tax rates.

"If you choose to buy a boat or a car then you are going to pay high taxes. If you are going to consume food you will pay zero to low taxes."