Women’s employment and its impact on life in a Fijian village

Abstract

Men have often been significant beneficiaries of development interventions. This has stemmed from increasing the economic strength of the target population. In the 1990's there has been a shift by development agencies to a more equitable focus where a better quality of life for everyone in a household is more often the target. Because men have predominantly held the recognised income earning role in the household, increases in employment opportunities resulting from development intervention tend to leave women to take on the work previously carried out by the men. This increases an already heavy workload for women. The village of Natokalau, on the island of Ovalau in Fiji, is faced with a different situation. Here, many of the women have gained employment in a fish canning factory. This leaves some of the household and child-care duties formerly carried out by the women to the men of the village. This study reports on the results of studying this village to ascertain the effects of womens' employment.