Solomon IslandsCounted Work, Hidden Earnings
High participation coexists with vulnerable work and limited formal wage employment.
Solomon Islands scores a GEVI of 49.8 (90% interval 45.3 to 53.9), in the Hidden band. Almost as many women as men are in the labour force (82.3% against 86.2%), but 79.1% of employed women are in vulnerable work and only 20.4% hold wage jobs, so participation does not translate into visible, formal earnings. No input is imputed, although three (NEET, management share and firm ownership) date from 2013 to 2015 and are graded B.
Source: the attached country paper. Animation reveals the reported measures; it does not show change over time.
Abstract
Solomon Islands scores a GEVI of 49.8 (90% interval 45.3 to 53.9), in the Hidden band. Almost as many women as men are in the labour force (82.3% against 86.2%), but 79.1% of employed women are in vulnerable work and only 20.4% hold wage jobs, so participation does not translate into visible, formal earnings. No input is imputed, although three (NEET, management share and firm ownership) date from 2013 to 2015 and are graded B.
The headline participation rate hides the real gap. D1 is 0.766 because so many women work, but D2 (job quality) is only 0.512: women are 20 points more likely than men to be in vulnerable employment and wage work reaches half as many women as men (20.4% against 39.0%). Enforcement is also the lowest of any measured economy: experts rate women's legal rights as enforced at 21% of their potential.
The paper prioritises measure informal women's income; refresh the 2013 to 2015 inputs; link enforcement data to justice statistics.
Solomon Islands shows why the index needs more than participation: a 82.3% female labour force participation rate coexists with wage work reaching only a fifth of women, so the data use is to expose the gap between counted and formal work.
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High participation coexists with vulnerable work and limited formal wage employment.
90% interval 45.3–53.9.
Rank 8 of 15 · Blind-spot ratio 0.00.
versus D1 at 0.766
Solomon Islands shows why the index needs more than participation: a 82.3% female labour force participation rate coexists with wage work reaching only a fifth of women, so the data use is to expose the gap between counted and formal work.
How the index is built
Each dimension is the simple mean of its indicators. GEVI is the weighted geometric mean of the five dimension scores.
| Dimension | Score D | Weight w | D^w |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1 Labour participation | 0.766 | 0.25 | 0.9355 |
| D2 Job quality and seniority | 0.512 | 0.20 | 0.8746 |
| D3 Enterprise and legal rights | 0.541 | 0.20 | 0.8844 |
| D4 Institutional visibility | 0.250 | 0.15 | 0.8123 |
| D5 Statistical and political voice | 0.435 | 0.20 | 0.8466 |
= 49.8
Product of the five terms = 0.4976, so GEVI = 100 × 0.4976 = 49.8, rank 8 of 15. Dimension values and the index are rounded as reported in the source.
Uncertainty and rank sensitivity
The 10,000-draw simulation samples each score with the standard deviation of its grade (10 grade A at 0.02, 3 grade B at 0.06) and draws dimension weights from a Dirichlet distribution centred on the base weights. Median 49.6, 5th to 95th percentile 45.3 to 53.9; blind-spot ratio 0/13 = 0.00. Under 5,000 random weight sets alone, the rank has a median of 9 with a range of 6 to 12.
Where the gap is
Each dimension is raised to full parity while holding the others fixed.
| Dimension raised to 1.0 | GEVI | Gain |
|---|---|---|
| D1 | 53.2 | +3.4 |
| D2 | 56.9 | +7.1 |
| D3 | 56.3 | +6.5 |
| D4 | 61.3 | +11.5 |
| D5 | 58.8 | +9.0 |
Single-indicator scenarios
Each scenario lifts one indicator to the upper quartile of countries with data.
| Indicator lifted | From | To | GEVI | Gain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I4 Non-vulnerable employment | 0.510 | 0.989 | 52.5 | +2.8 |
| I12 Women MPs | 0.120 | 0.382 | 52.4 | +2.7 |
| I6 Wage and salaried employment | 0.523 | 0.984 | 52.4 | +2.7 |
| I11 Women ministers | 0.190 | 0.373 | 52.1 | +2.4 |
Values and gains are reproduced as printed in the paper; rounding can cause differences between displayed gains and subtraction of displayed index values. These conditional scenarios are not forecasts or causal estimates.
Reading the result
The headline participation rate hides the real gap. D1 is 0.766 because so many women work, but D2 (job quality) is only 0.512: women are 20 points more likely than men to be in vulnerable employment and wage work reaches half as many women as men (20.4% against 39.0%). Enforcement is also the lowest of any measured economy: experts rate women's legal rights as enforced at 21% of their potential.
Raising the wage employment parity score (I6) from 0.523 to 0.75 would add 1.4 points, and the same change to non-vulnerable employment (I4) would add 1.5, so the formal-work gap is worth about 3 points if closed together.
Priorities and practical use
The priorities connect the index to actions and named users.
Measure informal women's income. A survey module or administrative match that records the value and sex of informal and market-selling income would turn a very large invisible workforce into data and address the D2 weakness directly.
Refresh the 2013 to 2015 inputs. Three inputs are graded B; a new enterprise and household round would tighten the interval.
Link enforcement data to justice statistics. The 21% enforcement score is an expert perception; case-tracking would show where the perception gap comes from.
Who uses the data, and for what decision?
| Data product | Primary user | Decision it informs | Cadence |
|---|---|---|---|
| I4 and I6: vulnerable employment (79.1% of women) and wage work (20.4%) by sex | Labour ministry, revenue authority, central bank | How large the invisible informal female workforce is, and whether a simplified small-trader tax or payment scheme would bring it into view | Annual |
| Market-selling income by sex (a new survey module) | Statistics office, finance ministry | Replace an inference about informal earnings with a measure; this is the direct fix for the D2 weakness | Household survey round |
| I9 enforcement (21%) linked to justice-sector case data | Justice ministry, police, courts | Where the enforcement gap arises (reporting, prosecution or sentencing) | Annual |
| I2, I5 and I7 refreshed (2013 to 2015 values) | Statistics office | Move three grade B inputs to grade A and tighten the interval | Next household and enterprise round |
Solomon Islands shows why the index needs more than participation: a 82.3% female labour force participation rate coexists with wage work reaching only a fifth of women, so the data use is to expose the gap between counted and formal work.
Series: GEVI Research Series · DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23206104