Employment Problems-The Impact of Rural-Urban Migration on Rural Economics in Fiji

The study analyzes the employment problems and the impact of rural-urban migration that is taking place in Fiji. It provides recommendations to address and handle the concern in an efficient manner.

Running head: EMPLOYMENT PROBLEMS-THE IMPACT OF RURAL-URBAN
MIGRATION ON RURAL ECONOMICS IN FIJI
EMPLOYMENT PROBLEMS-THE IMPACT OF RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION ON
RURAL ECONOMICS IN FIJI
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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EMPLOYMENT PROBLEMS-THE IMPACT OF RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION ON RURAL
ECONOMICS IN FIJI
Abstract
The objective of the study is to understand and analyze the employment problems and the impact
of rural-urban migration that is taking place in Fiji. After a proper evaluation of the issue
numerous recommendations are provided which might help the government of the country to
address and handle the concern in an efficient manner.

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EMPLOYMENT PROBLEMS-THE IMPACT OF RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION ON RURAL
ECONOMICS IN FIJI
Table of Contents
Introduction and Background of the Issue.......................................................................................3
Literature Review............................................................................................................................3
Analysis of the Issue........................................................................................................................4
Recommendations............................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7

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EMPLOYMENT PROBLEMS-THE IMPACT OF RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION ON RURAL
ECONOMICS IN FIJI
Introduction and Background of the Issue
Fiji has been facing a severe employment problems since 1990s. With time the
employment related issues has become more pronounced due to operational problems and
political instability. The number of workforce in Fiji is beyond 3,80,000 people and among then
only one-third of the workforce can be categorized as in paid employment while the rest (two-
third) falls under subsistence workers ( mostly farmers and fishermen). The ratio of the young
people considered under workforce to availability of jobs is 4:1 (World Bank 2019). Fiji’s
unemployment rate conceals a huge scale of underemployment like casual laborers of
construction industry and seasonal workers (Rbf.gov.fj 2019). The rate of unemployment in Fiji
has rose to about 4.20% in the year 2018 from around 4.10% as in 2017. The average rate of
unemployment since 1982 till year 2018, is found to be approximately 4.95%
(Tradingeconomics.com 2019).
Figure 1: Unemployment Rate in Fiji
Source: (Tradingeconomics.com 2019)

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EMPLOYMENT PROBLEMS-THE IMPACT OF RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION ON RURAL
ECONOMICS IN FIJI
Literature Review
The complexities due to rapid urbanization and rural-urban migration has pose huge
challenges to the nation by generating an increasingly critical employment problems. The Fiji
economy is recently experiencing a huge growth in labor in the urban market because of growing
rate of migration from rural areas to the urbanized regions and thereby leading to incredibly high
rate of unemployment (Makun and Azu 2015). The situation arising due to the rising
employment problems, gets even more worsened from the fact that the selected destinations of
the Fiji labor force are the urban centers only. As a result, there is significant explosion of
population in the urban areas of Fiji. Tremendous expansion has been observed in the urban
centers of the country because of the rapid rural-urban migration faced by the nation. The cities
in Fiji have changed into the magnets for those people who are seeking for better life. Further,
the youth of Fiji are mostly affected by the present situation of rising rural-urban migration
phenomenon as well as the resultant transformation in the urban areas of the country. It is a
known fact that half the population of Fiji encompasses youth (age 15 years to 34 years) who
form the major part of the work force (Statsfiji.gov.fj 2019). Since the numbers of youth is
rapidly rising in the urban centers so the rate of employment problems are growing abruptly.
Available statistics of Fiji Labor Market depicts that large number of youth beyond 40,000 are
entering in the Fiji’s labor force market each year (Ilo.org 2016). The issue of stiffly rising
employment problem can be regarded as a growing concern of the county in the present days.

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EMPLOYMENT PROBLEMS-THE IMPACT OF RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION ON RURAL
ECONOMICS IN FIJI
Figure 2: Rural and Urban Population Growth Rate
Source: (Tradingeconomics.com 2019)
Analysis of the Issue
There exists a variety of reasons for which the employment problems are occurring and
existing in the economy of Fiji. The factors leading to employment problems in the country are
the absence of sufficient training and relevant education, inelastic labor market, inadequate
resources, scarce job availability and so on. However, among all these factors the major concern
of employment problems is rural-urban migration. Usually people move to urban regions from
rural areas in search better jobs, high income and good productivity because urban centers offer
more effective as well as large labor market, lower cost of transaction and prospect for easy
knowledge spillover (Tacoli et al. 2015). Moreover, people prefer to migrate to the urban areas
as they get a wide range of opportunities, easier market access and links to connect with the
global economy.
Rural Growth Rate Urban Growth Rate

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EMPLOYMENT PROBLEMS-THE IMPACT OF RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION ON RURAL
ECONOMICS IN FIJI
RURAL POPULATION URBAN POPULATION
Figure 3: Comparing Rural Population with Urban Population
Source: (Tradingeconomics.com 2019)
The consequence of rural-urban migration is profound generating a number of deep
rooted employment problems across the country and in turn escalation the unemployment rate
day by day.
Figure 4: Comparison between Unemployment Rate and Growth in Population
Source: (Tradingeconomics.com 2019)

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EMPLOYMENT PROBLEMS-THE IMPACT OF RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION ON RURAL
ECONOMICS IN FIJI
Additionally, when people shifts from rural areas to urban areas, problems are not only
created in the urbanized provinces but rural areas also suffer a lot. In the following write up,
focus will be given on the effect of rural economy in Fiji due to rural-urban migration which
suffers from production problem. The factors of production is analyzed one by one.
Land: In rural areas land remain unproductive due to absence of labor for undertaking effective
and efficient agricultural production.
Labor: Rural-Urban migration shifts labor force from agricultural sector in rural areas to
industrial sector in urban areas
Capital: Abundant migration to urban areas leaves the capitals used for agricultural production
unutilized in the rural sectors
Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurship is too affected to a great extent by the rural-urban
migration phenomenon.
When the above discussed factors of production are left idle then it becomes a problem
for both the owner of the resource as well as the government to efficiently handle the Fiji’s
economy as whole.
Apart from the above discussion difficulties, two other crucial problems are
Personal Hardship: Unemployment generates personal difficulties and hardship for the resource
owners. The income of the resource owners reduces (even become zero) is the resources remain
unused and productionless. The loss in the income level will lower the consumption as well as
the living standard simultaneously (O’Reilly et al. 2015).

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EMPLOYMENT PROBLEMS-THE IMPACT OF RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION ON RURAL
ECONOMICS IN FIJI
Lost Production: Unemployment declines the total production of an economy. If limited
resources are used in production then few goods will be produced which in turn will reduce the
overall production level of the country. The production loss interrupts the society’s effort to
increase standard of living and address the scarcity problem. The lost in production affects the
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.
Recommendations
After the entire analysis of the issue it is recommended that more attention must be given
to the rural economy so that it can remain strong to stand the effect of migration. Adequate
support should be provided by the government by reforming the rural infrastructure and
agricultural sector so that rural sectors can continue to deliver services and improve the living
standard of the people. More emphasis must be given to the health, education and human capital
by providing sufficient health care and equip people with proper skills in the rural areas.
Government should also identify social tension that exist for the migration phenomenon and also
promote public services like water and sanitation. Besides, inclusive development should be
brought in villages and small cities to stop people from migrating to urban areas.
Conclusion
As a conclusion, it is important to inform that all the examined problems, generated due
to the enormous rural-urban migration faced the Fiji economy, must be taken into consideration
and immediate steps must be taken to overcome the glitches. The recommendation given are
essential and must be considered for mitigating the issue.

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EMPLOYMENT PROBLEMS-THE IMPACT OF RURAL-URBAN MIGRATION ON RURAL
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References
Ilo.org (2016). [online] Ilo.org. Available at: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---
asia/---ro-bangkok/---ilo-suva/documents/publication/wcms_465248.pdf [Accessed 22 Sep.
2019].
Makun, K. and Azu, N.P., 2015. Economic Growth And Unemployment In Fiji: A Cointegration
Analysis. International Journal of Development and Economic Sustainability, 3 (4), pp.49-60.
O’Reilly, J., Eichhorst, W., Gábos, A., Hadjivassiliou, K., Lain, D., Leschke, J., McGuinness, S.,
Kureková, L.M., Nazio, T., Ortlieb, R. and Russell, H., 2015. Five characteristics of youth
unemployment in Europe: Flexibility, education, migration, family legacies, and EU
policy. Sage Open, 5(1), p.2158244015574962.
Rbf.gov.fj (2019). [online] Rbf.gov.fj. Available at:
https://www.rbf.gov.fj/getattachment/Publications/Newspaper-Articles/Unemployment-in-Fiji-
230416.pdf?lang=en-US [Accessed 22 Sep. 2019].
Statsfiji.gov.fj (2019). Fiji Bureau of Statistics - Fiji Bureau of Statistics. [online] Statsfiji.gov.fj.
Available at: https://www.statsfiji.gov.fj/ [Accessed 22 Sep. 2019].
Tacoli, C., McGranahan, G. and Satterthwaite, D., 2015. Urbanisation, rural-urban migration
and urban poverty. Human Settlements Group, International Institute for Environment and
Development.
Tradingeconomics.com (2019). Fiji Unemployment Rate | 2019 | Data | Chart | Calendar |
Forecast | News. [online] Tradingeconomics.com. Available at:
https://tradingeconomics.com/fiji/unemployment-rate [Accessed 22 Sep. 2019].

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World Bank (2019). World Bank Group - International Development, Poverty, & Sustainability.
[online] World Bank. Available at: https://www.worldbank.org/ [Accessed 22 Sep. 2019].