This study investigates household livelihood in Solomon Islands urban squatter settlements. A total of 208 households participated in this empirical study. Most of the squatter households fall into the category of 3 to 7 members (59.1%) with average household size of 6.3. Seventy percent of the settlers live in temporary buildings or shelter and are lacking proper water and sanitation. Majority of the households, (96.6%) do not have electricity in their homes. The average fortnightly income of the households is SI$316. The implications derived from the findings include national policy makers need to consider financing for low cost housing for the poor urban residents, improve and adequately resource the rural schools to lure squatter settlers back to the rural areas, the government should consider giving an education subsidy to low income parents who have more than two children attending schools and civil society organisations and government departments need to conduct life-skills courses that could encourage low settlers to diversify their livelihood activities. The discussion concludes with the concept of education as a form of secure livelihood.

This article reports the results of a survey of the livelihoods of 208 households in squatter settlements in Solomon Islands. The main sources of household income are selling betel-nuts and cigarettes and working in full-time and casual unskilled jobs. Those individuals generating incomes make up 28 per cent of total household members. Of those household members generating incomes, 46.6 per cent are females. Some 50.5 per cent of the respondents did not have existing savings to start their income-generating activities. The average income from informal activities is two times more than the average fortnightly income from casual and full-time employment and 1.5 times more than the national minimum wage. This analysis draws a number of implications from the findings. These include building a traditional marketplace for selling betel-nut, the need for the government to fast track the implementation of development projects in the larger provinces, the need for research to investigate if low-income earners are paid at the minimum wage rate or lower, the need for relevant government departments and non-governmental organisations to conduct community-based short courses in the settlements that focus on appropriate income-generating enterprises, and the need for in-depth study into employment regulations and conditions in Solomon Islands.