I think the world can be divided into two camps -those that love numbers and those that hate them. I find myself firmly planted in the first of the categories, which is a good thing because lately I've been looking at a lot of them.
Many years ago before computers came into widespread use and took all the fun out of balancing accounts, I thought I would become an accountant. I completed the first year of the chartered accountants' program, but let it slide in the second year for a couple of reasons. I had three sons who needed to eat more than I needed to remit (what was) an exorbitant amount of money to belong to an accounting society and secondly because of the job I had numbers work was becoming rote.
However, now I find myself glad to have that background. I like being able to make sense out of statistics and financial statements (or as much sense as anyone can.)
So what of all these numbers I've been reading lately, who's generating them and why are they important? The reports in question were generated by the Sunshine Coast Community Foundation - the second Vital Signs - and the Sunshine Coast Credit Union's 10-year economic forecast. And they should be compelling reading for everyone on the Sunshine Coast.
Vital Signs is a snapshot of our community taken in late summer of this year. It tells the here-and-now story of the Coast. It carries on from the 2009 Vital Signs, telling us that although there have been some strides made to engage and retain young people they're still a small segment of our population. They can't afford to live here and even if they can there's not always enough of a social draw to keep them here. Housing, lack of jobs and a dearth of educational opportunities have the young taking that free ferry ride to the wide world and never coming back. So what does the future for our beloved Coast hold?
Well according to the just released economic forecast more of the same. We'll continue to get older (no surprise there), we'll continue to need services that are not here or are too expensive and we'll continue to have that mass exodus of young people. It's past time for all of us to sit up and take notice of these numbers.
We need to find ways to keep people in their homes longer without folks being taxed to death because all the young people have left to find employment. We need to have alternatives to having people in high cost hospital beds when what they really need is proper home care that they can afford. We need to build houses that people can afford to live in.
We can become a full-fledged retirement community or we can work to draw young people to the Coast or we can keep our heads in the sand and wait for that magical day when we no longer have old people because there was no one left to get older.
The numbers don't lie.
