Income Security for Older Persons in Fiji

Organization(s): ESCAP
Author: Vijay Naidu
Regions: Asia-Pacific
Country: Fiji
Year: 2016
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Population ageing is becoming an increasing challenge in Fiji. The demographic transformation has been accompanied by widespread socioeconomic changes, which have principally affected social support systems. With decreasing family size and changing economic demands, support systems for the most vulnerable have come under severe stress. A combination of factors, including low economic growth, a large informal sector, high unemployment, mandatory early retirement, pose a challenge to income security for older persons in Fiji. In response, the Government has sought to develop and implement policies and programmes providing a certain level of social protection. This paper focuses first on Fiji’s demographic and socioeconomic changes with an emphasis on population ageing and challenges to income security. It then examines the current status of state-led social security systems, before turning to a review on the Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF). Lastly, it discusses critical sustainability issues with regards to the FNPF pension and highlights a number of achievable policy recommendations.