The
Development Planning Unit
Government of the British Virgin Islands

The Status of Women
In the British Virgin Islands

4. POVERTY

With a 1992 GNP per capita totalling some US$11,000.00, an inflation rate of 3.1%, 56.4% of its population in the labour force and an unemployment rate of only 3.3%, British Virgin Islanders claim that they are able to enjoy a relatively high standard of living, when compared to most of their Caribbean neighbours. Poverty is associated mainly with the high number of immigrants who make up almost half of the population.

Poverty is easily identified wherever it exists. It is its measurement, however, which has posed much difficulty for Caribbean analysts. GNP per capita and such statistics are widely acknowledged to be inadequate in assessing the standards of living for an entire population. In acknowledging this fact, the World Bank has recently introduced its Human Development Index in an attempt to assess real human development as opposed to the number-oriented economic development.

The 'poverty line' concept which is used in the more industrialized countries, categorizes any household which falls below a certain income level as poor. This indicator, which has its own shortcomings in those societies, is almost inapplicable to most of the Caribbean islands, including the British Virgin Islands (Harney et al 1992). The reason for this, Harney et a point out is that our Caribbean economies are not as highly monetized as the "more developed" countries and in addition, much of our trade is effected via the exchange of goods. This is further compounded by the fact that, like many other Caribbean islands, households in the BVI have been traditionally sustained by remittances from family members abroad.

Remittances may be in the form of money, food, clothing and other consumer items. These add to the overall welfare of the household and as a result, Harney et al note, it is impossible to use a household's local income to determine the incidence of poverty. Consequently, more subjective indicators of the quality of life must be used. These, they point out, can be related to the extent to which the needs of the individual are satisfied. Harney et al divided these needs/wants into four groups:

1.   Life sustaining needs - food, water, air

2.   Life supporting needs - health, proper housing, good environment, transport and security.

3.   Life enhancing needs - education, cultural, social and professional mobility, independence, cultural identity.

4.   Life enriching wants - these are unnecessary but pleasing. (Harney et 1992:64).

It is the ability to fulfill these needs that distinguishes relative poverty from absolute poverty. Individuals face absolute poverty when they face starvation, and have no housing or health care. Relative poverty, on the other hand, relates the situation of the individual to a reference group, or in the case of the BVI, to the territory as a whole.

Prior to the development of the tourism and financial services sectors, many British Virgin Islanders emigrated to places like the US Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic and the mainland USA in search of a better way of life. Many of these repatriated remittances to assist family members left behind. Today, the BVI itself is seen as a 'land of opportunity' for many and this is evidenced in the influx of immigrants, many of whom now send back remittances to their country of origin. Immigrants account for 49.9% of the total population. The BVI population grew by 80% between the 1980 and the 1991 census counts and immigration accounted for 62% of that 80% increase. It is estimated that, based on this pattern and the labour needs of the BVI, the population is likely to double by the year 2008. In the context of this economic 'boom' it is relative poverty rather than absolute poverty which is more applicable to the BVI.

Studies indicate that the groups most likely to be afflicted by poverty are women and children in single parent homes, immigrant workers (particularly female workers), and the aged. In the Caribbean as a whole, poverty is seen as a problem which is increasingly affecting women. This is related to the fact that women are not compensated for work related to social reproduction in the maintenance of the family. These contributions to the national economy (unwaged work) have historically been excluded from the national accounting. This is compounded by:

... low level of skills, poor positioning on the labour market among females and gender segmentation which keeps women at the low wage, low skill end of the labour market, in spite of having overall, more years of schooling than men.
(CARICOM: Family Code for the Caribbean 1994:2)

Recent data indicate that women in the BVI are mostly employed in the 'low paying service areas such as clerks, domestic workers, bar maids etc.' (National Report for ICPD 1994). In addition, the Social Development Department claims that economic problems are grave for some women because of low educational attainment, low wages, lack of institutional supports such as daycare and the lack of public housing. (1994 Interview). While these statements refer to the BVI women in general, most of the individuals interviewed for this report felt that poverty was more closely associated with immigrant women. According to the ICPD report, 15.0% of women are immigrants who are 'largely confined to the middle to low income brackets', unlike their male immigrant counterparts who are located in the higher paying construction and industry type service jobs.

FEMALE HEADED HOUSEHOLDS

It is widely assumed that households with only one major income earner are more prone to experiencing poverty. This has been especially associated with female headed households because of the concentration of women in lower paying jobs. This hypothesis is itself a subject for further research as the incomes of these households are.sometimes supplemented by remittances and/or by visiting males. A look at the available BVI data does indicate, however, that based on income, female headed households in the BVI are more likely to experience relative poverty.

The 1980 Census count reported a total of 3,279 beads of households. Of these, 833 (25.4%) were women. The figures show that 517 (62%) of the female heads and 2,103 (86%) of the male beads were employed (Table 4:1). This meant that 38% of the women who headed households were unemployed.

TABLE 4:1
HEADS OF HOUSEHOLD BY GENDER 1980

Source: BVI 1980 Census Report

Table 4:2 presents the overall employment rate for women and men in the BVI in 1980. It indicates that women made up 37.8% of the employed population and 7 ' 4% of those classified as unemployed. Here again it must be pointed out that like most census reports, consideration is not given to women's unwaged work. Some 1,03',' women reported that they -were involved in 'home duties' but this labour was not tabulated in the national statistics.

TABLE 4:2
EMPLOYMENT BY GENDER 1980

Source: 1980 BVI Census Report

While the 1980 data do not provide an average income for household heads, Table 4:3 shows the breakdown in vocational training for the general population. Women constituted 750 (42.7%) of the persons who received vocational job training. The number of men outnumbered women in all categories except teacher training, which is regarded as a largely 'female' occupation. This was especially obvious in the on the job, technical training and hotel categories where women accounted for 32.6%, 35.4% and 20.7% respectively. While the number of persons receiving agricultural college training only amounted to seven, two of these were female.

TABLE 4:3
VOCATIONAL JOB TRAINING BY GENDER 1980

Source: 1980 BVI Census Report
Note: 2506 females and 2520 males did not state whether they had any vocational training.

While the limited data that are available from the 1991 Census Report do not allow for a comprehensive overview or direct comparison, the ICPD Report indicates that women's participation in the labour force was 43.7% of the total in 1991 and the overall unemployment rate which was 13.0% for women and 2.4% for males in 1990 dropped to 3.1% for women and increased to 3.5% for men. The lack of additional data prevents any exploration of the reasons for the change, but it does provide some insights into the status of single beads of households in terms of gender, education, income and nationality.

By 1991, the number of households headed by women bad increased from 25.4% to 28.7%. Table 4:4 indicates that of the 2,592 single heads of households 1,303 (50.3%) were women, non-nationals accounted for 1,572 (60.6%) of the single heads of households with non-national women making up 746 (47.5%) of that total. Non-national women therefore accounted for 57.3% of the females who headed households. Overall, the non-national women made up 28.8% of all the single headed households in the BVI. Non-national men accounted for the highest number of single headed households 826 (31.9%), and this is in keeping not only with the higher ratio of men to women in the territory, but also with the fact that male immigrants have outnumbered their female counterparts (ICPD 1994).

TABLE 4:4
SINGLE HEADS OF HOUSEHOLDS BY NATIONALITY AND GENDER 1991

Source: Development Planning Unit, 1994

A look at the educational background of the single heads of households in the BVI (Tables 4:5 and 4:6), reveals that 9 (0.7%) of the 1,303 female heads bad attained no formal education compared to 14 (1.1%) of the male beads. Of the female beads 728 (55.9%) had received education at or above the-secondary level compared with 600 (45.5%) of male heads. Female beads also outnumbered their male counterparts in obtaining university level education with 156 (12.0%) females as opposed to 130 (10.1%) males.

TABLE 4:5
SINGLE HEADS OF HOUSEHOLDS BY EDUCATIONAL LEVEL AND GENDER 1991

Source: Development Planning Unit, 1994

 TABLE 4:6
SINGLE HEADS OF HOUSEHOLDS BY
HIGHEST DEGREE/CERTIFICATE EARNED AND GENDER 1991

Source: Development Planning Unit 1994.

Some 116 (8.9%) of the female heads bad already earned their degrees in 1991, compared with 109 (8.5%) of the male heads. There were more male heads without a degree or certificate, 798 (61.9%) as compared with 732 (56.2%) for female heads.

The female single heads also outnumbered their male counterparts in employment in managerial, professional and assistant professional categories with 315 (24.2%) as opposed to 260 or (20.2%) in these areas (Table 4:7). It must be borne in mind here, that these statistics also include a number of single professional females who are well educated, have access to resources and choose to establish their own households. On the other hand, 519 (39.8%) of the female heads were employed in the lower-paying clerical/service sectors as opposed to 128 (9.9%) of their male counterparts. In addition, there were 280 (21.5%) of the female heads and 193 (15%) of the male heads in elementary occupations. These numbers reflect the statistics for the population at large where the majority of female workers are concentrated in the service and clerical sectors. It is also very interesting to note that the occupation with the highest number of workers is the Craft sector where 479 (37.2%) of the male heads are concentrated, compared with 37 (2.8%) of the female heads.

TABLE 4:7
SINGLE HEADS OF HOUSEHOLDS BY OCCUPATION AND GENDER 1991

Source: Development Planning Unit 1994.

In spite of the fact that female heads were on an average better educated, and although more female heads were employed in the managerial or professional sectors, this did not translate into larger incomes for the average female head, as more of the women were concentrated in the low-skill jobs. As Table 4:8 indicates, on average female single beads of households earned $1,092.62 per month while the male single heads earned an average of $1,417.32 per month. This means that the female heads earned only 77.1% of what their male counterparts earned.

TABLE 4:8
SINGLE HEADS OF HOUSEHOLDS BY INCOME AND GENDER 1991

Source: Development Planning Unit, 1994.

According to Table 4:8 23.3% of the female heads and 12.6% of the male beads earned less than $500.00. Of the 122 heads in the less than $500.00 per month category, 73.8% were female. Altogether 54.7% of the female beads earned under $1000.00 per month. While the female heads bad a higher percentage in the under $1,000.00 income categories, the males had a higher percentage in the $1,000.00 and over income categories.

The data suggests that female heads of households earn less than their male counterparts and one may assume that these households may be more at risk of experiencing poverty. The available data from the Development Planning Unit also indicate that because more women are concentrated in the low-paying employment sectors, and given the fact that the minimum wage for such workers was $1.25 per hour, women in general might be prone to poverty. According to the statistics in 1991 there were some 500 female domestic workers and about 1,249 female workers in the Service industries.

Eugenia O'Neal of the Women's Desk, points out the "difficult circumstances" under which these women are forced to live, even if they earned more than the minimum wage:

A woman making $2.00 per hour who works eight hours a day, six days a week will make $384 monthly, yet preliminary census data shows that many domestic workers only make between $250 and $300 per month. Given that the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $375, that food and other costs are relatively high, many women, to make ends meet, work two and three jobs with negative consequences on their health and the quality of family life. Many of these women do not own the houses in which they live, many have but basic literacy skills, many are single parents and, like their counterparts in other countries, most have no health insurance, and are not able to save for their old age. (Draft Plan for Women Till The Year 2000, Women's Desk 1992~11993).

The minimum wage was increased to $3.00 per hour during the writing of this report. While ensuring its 39 implementation may take as much effort as it took to have it changed to $3.00 per hour, O'Neal notes, the increase does not significantly change the situation, because as she calculates it, a woman making $3.00 per hour for 48 hours per week will make about $576.00 per month. The typical rent is about $375.00 and 'even if the woman 'Managed to find something substantially cheaper to accommodate herself and any offspring she may have, grocery bills, medical bills, school costs and others will take a sizable chunk out of her salary. Saving for a rainy day becomes an unaffordable luxury'. (Women's Desk 1993). In fact, if one were to take into account the tax and social security deductions, after paying rent, a woman earning $576.00 per month would end up with less than $170.00 per month to run her household.

Low income earning women experience discrimination, exploitation and also suffer the health consequences associated with relative poverty. Issues to be addressed include housing, childcare, nutrition and exploitation in the workplace.

The difficulties become obvious, especially if the household is solely dependent on the woman's income. It becomes more serious when one considers that a number of the female heads of households are also unemployed. That women in the BVI are also at risk of experiencing absolute poverty is demonstrated in one case which was brought to the attention of the Women's Desk. An unemployed woman who was estranged from her husband was living in a substandard house, which was leaky and infested with rats. While the Health Department was able to bring the rodent problem under control, because the woman owned neither the house nor the land, a local service Club was reluctant to renovate or rebuild the house. In another case a woman was reluctant to leave her common-law husband who abused her, because of fears for her safety and because she was worried about childcare as she worked two shifts at her restaurant job. O'Neal argues that:

A case like hers points to the need for institutional attention to women in her condition who are in need of subsidized after-hours daycare and the raising of the minimum wage so that women would 'not find themselves having to work two shifts or holding more than one job simply to make ends meet. (Report on the Women's Desk 1993).

There are about seven day care centres in the territory. None of these are public centres, however, and they charge about $100.00 per week. The costs and hours of operation are prohibitive for the low-income earning women. Changing social and economic developments have meant that childcare no longer automatically falls to other family members. This would affect immigrant women to a greater degree, as they would have left most of their family members behind in their country of origin.

Women with limited incomes tend to neglect their health. Medical experts believe that these women, and domestics in particular, are more likely to suffer poor health and to be particularly prone to stress related diseases. According .to these medical personnel and informal surveys, diabetes, heart disease, anemia, fibroids, and obesity are to be found in significant numbers among this segment of the population.(Women's Desk 1993). As O'Neal points out, these women cannot afford to pay attention to the making of healthy purchases at the grocery store. They rely, instead, on cheap bulk purchases which are quite often devoid of nutritional value. Preventive health measures are ignored by these women as they cannot afford health insurance and they see a doctor's visit as an additional cost. Furthermore, many of them, especially immigrants put off seeking medical attention because they face the loss of income from employers who deduct wages for time spent off the job, and refuse to pay for any sick days, knowing, O'Neal notes, that their often semi-literate, mostly immigrant workers are hardly likely to report them to the Labour Department.

Poor nutrition, long working hours, little time to spend on preventive health measures and other factors may play a role in this. Many low income workers prefer to wait until an illness is chronic before seeking medical attention as some employers illegally threaten to deduct for time spent off the job. (Women's Desk, 1994).

Attempts, like the seminar on "Growing Food for Health and Profit" put on by the Women's Desk in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture and the Family Support Network, have sought to increase awareness among low income earning women of the need for good nutrition. This seminar was aimed at showing women convenient ways to grow vegetables and herbs, pointing out the nutritional value of local fruits and showing them how growing their own food could save them money. While this is an important step in the alleviation of poverty, more systematic efforts must be maintained, as these women are quite often unable to attend such a seminar, given their time, energy and childcare constraints.

High rents account for a significant portion of the wages of low-income earning women. In addition to being charged high rents for substandard housing, as is the case with immigrants, landlords tend to discriminate against women with more than two children. This has been drawn to the attention of the Chief Minister, who in his report on the activities of the Women's Desk during its first year of operation, noted the effect the lack of affordable housing has on abused women in particular:

It should be noted that, in instances where the women are ready and willing to leave, alternative housing becomes progressively difficult with each child they take with them. Apartments once available repeatedly become unavailable to women with more than two children as landlords came up with different reasons why they are unable to rent to them. Some sort of housing law that would make that type of discrimination illegal is required. (Chief Minister, no date).

While the proposal to make housing discrimination illegal is urgent, a case should also be made for the provision of subsidized or alternative housing for low-income earners as many immigrants are forced to live in overcrowded and sometimes unsanitary conditions. (Harney et al 1992).

IMMIGRANT WOMEN

In the BVI the situation of unskilled or semi-skilled immigrant women from the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean islands has been cause for concern for the Women's Desk as well as other community organizations and individuals. It is mainly this group with which poverty is associated in the territory and it is this group which experiences severe economic and sexual exploitation because of their nationality and gender. The issue was raised at the National Consultations which preceded this Report. Of concern was:

The lack of services for those women from the other islands who are of a low economic status. The fact that many of these women find employment in domestic jobs, are paid less than three dollars per hour, and are exploitable because of their immigrant status was mentioned as an area into which some work should be done. Raising the minimum wage was seen as a way of beginning to address the problems faced by these women. (Report of National Consultation, February 1994).

One academic and longtime resident of the BVI claims that it is a question of class and power. He argues that while there is discrimination against women in general, the BVI woman is protected from exploitation to a greater extent than a non-BVI man or woman because, as a belonger, she has more rights. The non-BVI woman is more vulnerable to exploitation:

The non-BVI woman is at a greater disadvantage because she is more vulnerable to exploitation by men in general, by the BVI male and female and by North American and European immigrants, as society views her as not having the power to react to defend herself . (interview with Researcher 1994).

The lack of political power which stems from non-citizenship status leads to high levels of insecurity for immigrant women and men. "If you upset someone you may be asked to leave". In turn this insecurity increases their vulnerability-to all kinds of exploitation. Some employers have taken advantage of this vulnerability and have exploited immigrant women both sexually and economically. In general, immigrant women are reluctant to report these instances as they fear negative repercussions, including deportation. The Women's Desk since Its inception has launched education awareness campaigns and this drive has brought a number of these cases to the attention of the Desk. In one case:

The Desk was approached by a young man whose girlfriend was in a difficult employment situation. According to him the employer continued to make the full income tax deductions from the woman's paycheck throughout the year. The Inland Revenue Service was contacted but the woman was reluctant to make the charges herself or to allow her pay slips to be reviewed by the Department as she needs the job and the employer makes a practice of not only firing 'troublesome' employees, but also of ensuring their deportation from the BVI. (Women in Focus, Report of the Women's Desk , November 1993).

In another case-.

The Desk's intervention was sought by a Jamaican beautician whose pregnancy had resulted in her being fired by her employer who informed her that Immigration was seeking her deportation. That Department refuted that claim, however, and the woman is currently being assisted by the labour Department as BVI laws forbid the termination of employment because of pregnancy. ([bid).

Immigrant women from the Dominican Republic in particular, are blamed for prostitution and the break-up of marriages and their hardships are compounded by attempts by the wives of the men involved to have them deported. As one successful resident business woman pointed out in an interview with the researchers, little blame or responsibility is attributed to the men involved, even when they follow the women to their country of origin. Society closes its eyes to the large number of men involved in the extra-marital relationships with immigrant women, but condemns these women as prostitutes, she noted, and pointed to one example in which a prominent woman bad severed relations with her because she refused to fire the immigrant mistress of the woman's husband. The Immigration Department also acknowledged that it receives 'a lot of requests to send back mistresses'. (Interview with the researchers).

The coercion of immigrant women into prostitution was also raised at the National Consultation Meetings. Participants pointed out that although it was illegal, the women who were brought in under the pretext of receiving legitimate jobs were often easily victimized because of their unfamiliarity with the language and the territory. Participants noted the need to enforce the laws and provide education programmes for the sex workers. It was felt that literacy and skills programmes would offer the women employment alternatives. (National Consultation, February 1994).

Many of the issues related to immigrants are related to exploitive labour conditions and are of particular concern to immigrant women. Most immigrants, however, O'Neal points out, are reluctant to speak on those issues because of the 'generally chilly climate (when it comes to speech and expression) which silences women's voices'. (Preliminary Report, March 1994). Some immigrant women have difficulty bringing male companions into the territory on their work permits, while the companions of male immigrants are granted up to six months at a time. Immigrant women in general, are also discouraged from bringing their children to live with them, due to overcrowding in schools and other institutional problems. Children are left behind in the country of origin with other family members until the woman is allowed to bring them in when she becomes financially able. This places considerable strain and hardship on the immigrant woman who may only find work in low income jobs and has to work two or-more jobs to sustain herself and family members in her country of origin.

It was a recognition of the disadvantaged status of low-income earners in general and low-income immigrant women in particular, which has prompted the Women's Desk to launch a campaign for the establishment of a low Income or Domestic Workers' Association. The project is being carried out in collaboration with the Labour Department with assistance from the Social Security Board and the Immigration Department. Assistance is also being sought from the International labour Organization. The association, which would be open to women and men, O'Neal states, could be an instrument for change.

As an association, members could lobby for the provision of low-income housing, an increase in the minimum wage, and better working conditions. As a collective, members could address issues like immigration, childcare and sexual harassment. Programmes and workshops aimed at improving professionalism, improving literacy skills and imparting parenting awareness knowledge could easily be done within the context of the association. (O'Neal 1993 & 1994, quoted in the Government Information Bulletin and Women's Desk Report on the Situation of Women).

The Desk is experiencing some difficulties in getting this project off the ground, largely because of the fear of repercussions by many of the domestics, and immigrant women in particular, and also because these workers have to work long hours and then devote the remainder of their time to the care of their children and households. Indications are that the awareness campaign associated with the project has been effective in that it has drawn the attention of the public to the problem and in addition, cases of labour exploitation are being brought to the attention of the Desk.

ELDERLY AND TEENAGE WOMEN

The available data do not allow for an adequate overview of the situation of teenage and elderly women with regards to poverty. Available information does point to a higher unemployment rate for persons under twenty five years. In 1980 the unemployment rate was 10.6% for this group, compared with 4.5% for the population at large. While the rates for all groups had decreased by 1991, it was still significantly higher for the under 25 year group, with a 6.8% rate as compared to the overall rate of 3.3%. (ICPD Report).

While the incidence of teenage pregnancy, like the fertility rate at large, is decreasing, it nevertheless places an economic burden on families. (it should be pointed out here that pregnant teenage girls are expelled from high school and are not allowed to return after the birth.) Medical experts indicate that the decrease is probably not related to a reduction in teen sexual activity, but rather an increase in the use of oral contraception (especially the pill), as well as access to abortion in the US Virgin Islands. One physician indicated that teenage mothers are not well educated about nutrition and experience a lot of frustration, sometimes leading to child abuse or indifference.

The elderly, and elderly women in particular, is one of the groups with which poverty is usually associated. In the BVI, unlike most of the other Caribbean countries, women are out numbered by men in practically all the age groups. The ICPD Report indicates that in the younger cohorts this is probably related to the higher ratio of immigrant men and that the unusual occurrence in the oldest age groups indicates that retirement immigration or return migration is probably confined to males.

The ICPD 1994 Report notes that there have been substantial increases in the old population in recent years. Demographically, the BVI will be considered an "intermediate" population up until 1996 and according to projections, will be classified as a population of old age thereafter. While the aging of a population is usually a result of low fertility and high expectations-of-life levels, the Report indicates that it will require the expansion of services including "higher national insurance payments, increased and different health services and special recreation targeted at an aging population". This aging of the population as well as the entry of more women into the formal labour force has created the need for institutional care for the elderly. As more women, the traditional care-givers, are now in the formal labour force they are no longer available to provide full-time care for aging relatives. Measures undertaken to provide for the elderly in the BVI include:

... homes for institutional care in the three major population centres, free health care for persons 65 years and older and welfare grants to those persons so qualifying in addition to the benefits from the national insurance system. As well, the Department of Social Development administers a programme of physical activities for the elderly including information on health issues and issues in the community in general. Finally, private sector health care and pharmaceutical items providers offer substantial discounts to persons 65 years and over. (ICPD Report 1994:42).

In 1992 the welfare or public assistance grants ranged from $50.00 per month per individual to $75.00 per month for the disabled. Grants for families ranged from $62.50 for a small-sized family to $75.00 for a large family. There was no public assistance housing for the elderly. Harney et al (1992) in pointing out the inadequacy of the support and welfare services for the aged, noted that:

.. many of the aged are not covered by the National Insurance scheme because of its recent establishment. A limited number of people receive a small monthly pension. The coveraqe is small because the Welfare Department has inadequate funds and inadequate staff to investigate cases of genuine need.

It is obvious from these two conclusions that additional research is required to assess to present condition of the elderly in the BVI and the extent to which they are able to access the programmes developed to aid them.

CONCLUSIONS

Comparatively, the BVI probably enjoys a higher standard of living than many developing countries. The spin-offs from the flourishing tourism and financial services sectors have included low unemployment rates and varying levels of affluence for some classes or groups. However, with almost half of the population being made up of immigrants, BVI nationals claim the territory's resources "are being drained through remittances of foreign workers, repatriation of profits by foreign owners and lost opportunity for up-and-coming nationals to enter the workforce and the ranks of entrepreneurship" (ICPD Report 1994:20).- With more than 90 per cent of the territory's resources for the accumulation of capital in the hands of foreign owners, the percentage being repatriated by immigrant workers, especially those from the Caribbean, is probably minimal. This is borne out by the fact that poverty In the BVI is largely associated with the immigrant workers in general, and immigrant women in particular.

Immigrant women are among the hundreds of low-income women who are employed as domestic workers, hotel maids, and waitresses. Their labour power has a higher degree of exploitation in the name of profit. "Faceless and voiceless", O'Neal notes, their contributions to the high standard of living enjoyed by BVIslanders, remain for the most part, unnoticed and therefore undervalued, as their grim living and working conditions become overshadowed by the high visibility of a few prominent women. The raising of the minimum wage and the drive for the establishment of a low income workers association are seen as initial steps in ameliorating the condition of these women. It is realized, however, that it will take much more awareness building and the implementation of other assistance measures to accomplish this.

The preceding overview has not taken into account all the factors associated with poverty in the BVI, but it does point to the fact that the alleviation of the relative poverty affecting certain segments of the population will have to include more political and structural changes. These include the revision of immigration and labour policies to make them more humane and the provision of subsidized childcare and low-income housing as well as a radical redistribution of the resources to better reward those members of the labour force who perform the more menial tasks.

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