Mauritius
Results are from an analysis of the 2011 Census of Population. Information on methodology is in the report and in the methods briefs.
Prevalence of Functional Difficulties
In Mauritius, the share of adults aged 15 and older with any functional difficulty stands at 5%. Separating by level of difficulty, the prevalence rates of some difficulty and at least a lot of difficulty are each 2.5%. The prevalence of functional difficulties is higher for women (5.2%) than for men (4.7%). Functional difficulties are more prevalent among older age groups, at 1.2% for ages 15 to 29, 2.8% for ages 30 to 44, 5.6% for ages 45 to 64, and 19.7% for ages 65 and over. Across the six functional domains considered, difficulties with mobility (2.5%) and self-care (2.2%) are most common.
About one in ten households have an adult with any functional difficulty: at the household level, the prevalence of any functional difficulty is at 11.8%, including 5.7% with some difficulty and 6.1% with at least a lot of difficulty. The prevalence of functional difficulties is overall similar in rural areas compared to urban areas: 5% vs. 5% among adults and 12.1% vs. 11.3% among households, for rural and urban areas, respectively.
Table 1: Mauritius: Prevalence of functional difficulties (%)
| Group | Any difficulty | Some difficulty | At least a lot of difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| All adults | 4.98 | 2.52 | 2.46 |
| Females | 5.22 | 2.57 | 2.64 |
| Males | 4.74 | 2.47 | 2.26 |
| Rural residents | 5.00 | 2.67 | 2.33 |
| Urban residents | 4.95 | 2.32 | 2.63 |
| Ages 15 to 29 | 1.21 | 0.45 | 0.76 |
| Ages 30 to 44 | 2.83 | 1.87 | 0.96 |
| Ages 45 to 64 | 5.64 | 3.18 | 2.47 |
| Ages 65 and over | 19.68 | 8.25 | 11.43 |
| Seeing | 1.76 | 1.15 | 0.61 |
| Hearing | 0.71 | 0.38 | 0.33 |
| Mobility | 2.47 | 1.11 | 1.36 |
| Cognitive | 1.12 | 0.46 | 0.67 |
| Self-care | 2.16 | 1.60 | 0.57 |
| Communication | 0.64 | 0.24 | 0.39 |
| All households | 11.76 | 5.66 | 6.10 |
| Rural households | 12.06 | 6.06 | 6.00 |
| Urban households | 11.34 | 5.11 | 6.23 |
Notes: *, **, and *** indicate that the difference is statistically significant at the 10%, 5% and 1% levels respectively. ‘-’ indicates not available. Numbers in the difference columns are in percentage points while all other numbers in the table are percentages.
Source: Mauritius 2011 Census of Population, own calculations
Key indicators on the deprivations and wellbeing experienced by persons with and without functional difficulties are presented in Table 2. Table 2 begins with information on the multidimensional poverty headcount—the rate of persons deprived in more than one dimension in the areas of education, work, health, and standard of living. There is no multidimensional poverty headcount estimate for Mauritius due to the absence of data on health and standard of living.
Table 2: Mauritius: Key indicators for adults age 15+ by functional difficulty status (% and percentage points)
| Indicator | No Difficulty | Some Difficulty | Difference between no difficulty and some difficulty | At least a lot of difficulty | Difference between no difficulty and at least a lot of difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multidimensional poverty headcount | – | – | – | – | – |
| Less than primary school | 14 | 41 | -28*** | 56 | -43*** |
| Employment population ratio | 56 | 23 | 33*** | 8 | 48*** |
| Safely managed drinking water | – | – | – | – | – |
| Safely managed sanitation | – | – | – | – | – |
| Clean fuel | – | – | – | – | – |
| Electricity | – | – | – | – | – |
| Adequate housing | – | – | – | – | – |
| Owns assets | – | – | – | – | – |
Source: Mauritius 2011 Census of Population, own calculations
Education
The share of adults who have less than primary school as their highest level of schooling attained is significantly higher among persons with at least a lot of functional difficulty (56%) and persons with some difficulty (41%) compared to persons with no difficulty (14%). This boils down to gaps of 28 percentage points (p.p.) between persons with some functional difficulty and persons with no difficulty and 43 p.p. between persons with at least a lot of functional difficulty and persons with no difficulty.
Work
Persons with at least a lot of functional difficulty have a lower employment population ratio (or share of the population working) than persons with no difficulty, at 8% and 56%, respectively. At 23%, persons with some difficulty also have a significantly lower employment population ratio than persons with no difficulty.
More results for the Mauritius are available in results tables on the ddi website.