AGING AND WELL-BEING ON ROTUMA IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Authors

Alan Howard, University of Hawai‘i–Mānoa
Jan Rensel, University of Hawai‘i–Mānoa

Abstract

In this article, we present a historical overview of the conditions affecting the experience of aging among Rotumans on their home island. We draw on an array of cultural, social, and personal data derived from censuses, fieldwork, and archival sources covering more than one hundred years on Rotuma, which we divide into three segments for comparison: a baseline period (1903–60), the transition to modernity (1960–99), and the twenty-first century (2000–19). Among the changes that have affected the welfare of the elderly on the island are medical conditions, household size and composition, economic changes, and the proportion of older people on the island. Our findings suggest that the overall effect of these changes—a lower death rate, a shift to a money economy fueled largely by remittances, smaller household size, and considerably more national and international mobility—has, if anything, increased the well-being of elderly people on Rotuma.

Recommended Citation

Howard, Alan and Rensel, Jan (2023) "AGING AND WELL-BEING ON ROTUMA IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE," Pacific Studies Journal: Vol. 46: No. 1, Article 2.
Available at: https://digitalcollections.byuh.edu/pacific-studies-journal/vol46/iss1/2