Fiji

FIJI Post-Disaster Needs Assessment
2.2.2 ESLP Sector Background
Employment and Livelihoods
Fiji faces a paradox of a low unemployment rate with high informal sector employment, high underemployment, and
significant and pervasive engagement in subsistence activities.
In 2010/2011, Fiji’s population aged 15 and over (working age population) totaled just below 600,000 (Figure 12).
Approximately 64.4 percent of this population (or around 386,000) participated in the labour market (81.5 percent for
men and 46.6 percent for women). Among labour force participants, 95.3 percent were employed while 4.7 percent were
unemployed. Among the employed, almost 60 percent were in informal employment, defined as employed people not
making contributions to the Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF), leaving the majority of workers without income security for
old age or to deal with shocks.
Some 24 percent of the employed labour force is involved with subsistence work, which is concentrated in the agriculture
sector. Only five percent of agricultural workers contribute to the FNPF. Self-employed people and students aged 15
and over can voluntarily join the fund, but voluntary contributions remain limited (just one percent, or F$2.3 million out of
F$375.7 million in 2014). 21 Almost 79 percent of rural workers are informally employed, compared with less than 40 percent
of urban workers.
The labour market also shows significant gender disparities, with men representing almost two-thirds of the labour force in
2010/2011. While the proportion of males in informal employment accounted for 57 percent (2010/11), females accounted
for about 65 percent of informal employment. A gender gap of 34.9 percent in labour force participation rates suggests
significant opportunity to engage more women to meet the challenges of sustainable development.
Unemployment rates for youth aged 15-24 in 2010/11 was 15 percent, almost four times higher than people aged 25-
44 and almost 14 times higher than the 45-64 age group. Young women, in particular, have trouble finding jobs, with an
unemployment rate of 19.5 percent compared with 12.9 percent for young men. A significant number of young women
and men are also not receiving an education. In 2010/2011, the share of people aged 15-24 who were neither employed
nor educated was 17.6 percent, down from 18.6 percent in 2004/2005. However, this share is three times higher for
young women (27.5 percent) than young men (8.8 percent), primarily because women are responsible for more household
duties. 22
Three siblings stand on what was once a vegetable farm
Source: Murray Lloyd/UN Women
21
FNPF 2014.
22
ILO/ADB Fiji Creating Quality Jobs: Employment Diagnostic Study 2015.
Tropical Cyclone Winston, February 20, 2016
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