In Fiji, the Social Pension Scheme pension is having a huge impact on reducing poverty, with analysis suggesting poverty among older persons would be around 40 per cent higher without the scheme.

The pension supports more than 58,000 older persons and, for many households, this support is essential.

A recent community-level survey of 1,365 pension recipients found that 72 per cent are the sole income earners within their households.

At the household level, the impacts are tangible.

“The pension enables recipients to transition into more private, secure and improved living arrangements, improve sanitation and improve access to more reliable water sources,” said Eseta Nadakuitavuki, former permanent secretary for the ministry of women, children and social protection in Fiji.

“The allowance primarily supports essential household needs, health and social responsibilities, reflecting how the pension enhances the wellbeing of recipients and their families.”

Supporting older people is an increasing priority for many Pacific Island countries.

While the region has a youth bulge, its population is gradually ageing due to people living longer and declining fertility rates.

People aged 60 years and over are expected to increase from 18 per cent of the region’s population in 2022 to 24 per cent by 2050, according to the United Nations Asia-Pacific Report on Population Ageing 2022.

“Ageing has implications for growth, public finances and living standards,” said Philip O’Keefe, Professor of Practice, Centre for Population Ageing Research at the University of New South Wales.

“The risks of financial insecurity in old age are really significant.

“Informal sources of support for older people are also coming under strain due to falling fertility, migration and shifting social norms.”

This highlights the importance of government mechanisms to improve the financial security of old-age populations, including a mix of social pensions and contributory schemes.

With a social pension, governments provide regular and predictable monthly cash transfers to older people using general government revenues (funded collectively through taxes).

This differs from contributory pensions, which are financed by contributions from employers and employees, mainly benefitting those in formal employment.

In the Pacific, contributory pensions often fail to reach those who need them most.

High levels of informal employment, particularly among women, mean that many people are excluded from these schemes altogether.

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