Mauritius: Growing Majority of Young Mauritians Eye Better Work Opportunities Abroad

4 December 2024
Afrobarometer (Accra)
By Preesha Ramtohul and Zuhayr Mustun

Youth cite drugs, unemployment, the increasing cost of living, and crime/security as the most important problems their government must address.

Key findings

  • Drugs, unemployment, the increasing cost of living, and crime/security rank as the most important problems that young Mauritians want their government to address.
  • Only about one-third of 18- to 24-year-olds (35%) and of 25- to 34-year-olds (34%) praise the government's performance on job creation, and even fewer think the government is doing a good job on keeping prices stable and reducing crime. o In contrast, majorities in both youth cohorts approve of the government's efforts to provide a reliable supply of electricity, address educational needs, maintain roads and bridges, and improve basic health services.
  • A majority (59%) of Mauritians aged 18-24 see their living conditions as "fairly good" or "very good." In contrast, older youth (aged 25-34) are 20 percentage points less likely to rate their living conditions positively (39%).
  • Aside from general economic conditions and a scarcity of job openings, a lack of adequate training and experience stands out as the main barrier to youth employment, according to young respondents. o Middle-aged and older respondents are most likely to cite young people's unwillingness to accept unglamorous or difficult jobs as a barrier to youth employment. But few youth agree with that analysis.
  • About three-fourths of 18- to 24-year-olds (74%) and of 25- to 34-year-olds (73%) say they have given at least "a little" thought to emigrating, mainly to find better job opportunities. o The share of youth who have considered emigration "somewhat" or "a lot" has more than doubled compared to survey findings in 2016.

Sitting at the crossroads of Africa, Asia, and Europe, Mauritius has long been a top African economic performer, developing from a monocrop (sugar production) economy at the time of its independence in 1968 to a robust, open, service sector-driven economy today. Between 1985 and 2023, income per capita grew more than tenfold (World Bank, 2024).

If the country's progress is to continue, young Mauritians constitute a vital engine for prosperity. Based on the latest census from 2012, Mauritians aged 15-34 account for about 30% of an aging population (Statistics Mauritius, 2022). While they represent hope, innovation, and dynamism, youth also face particular challenges. Among these are finding decent, meaningful work. Although the unemployment rate for Mauritians aged 16-24 decreased significantly over the past decade, from 23.2% in 2013 (and a high of 27.7% in 2021) to 18.2% in 2023, they are still three times as likely as the general population to be unemployed (Statistics Mauritius, 2024).

Another pressing issue, in the eyes of the government, is "brain drain," with increasing numbers of Mauritians moving abroad (European Union Global Diaspora Facility, 2021). This has led to sectors such as the hotel industry importing labour from overseas to fill gaps (AXYS, 2023). The exodus of young professionals and graduates has led to the establishment of the Mauritian Diaspora Scheme to encourage the return of Mauritians abroad (Economic Development Board, 2024).

Financial incentives are increasingly being used to improve the youth's standard of living in hopes that they will stay. The 2023 national budget introduced the Independence Scheme, which accords a one-off grant of Rs20,000 (U.S. $428) to citizens when they reach the age of 18 (Mauritius National Assembly, 2023). Along the same lines, as announced in this year's budget, all citizens aged 18-25 will benefit from a free monthly data package, thus allowing 80,000 youth to use the Internet free of charge (Mauritius National Assembly, 2024). And in August this year, the government introduced measures to increase the purchasing power of young qualified professionals, including by adjusting relative minimum wages and prescribing a basic wage for diploma- and degree-holders (Laretif, 2024).

Drawing on findings of the most recent Afrobarometer survey, the present dispatch sheds light on the priorities, assessments, and outlook of young Mauritians.

Youth see drugs, unemployment, the increasing cost of living, and crime/security as the most important problems that their government must address. While the youngest respondents (aged 18-24) give top priority to the problem of drugs, 25- to 34-year-olds are most worried about inflation.

In general, young Mauritians rate the government poorly on its performance on creating jobs, keeping prices stable, and reducing crime.

Preesha Ramtohul Preesha Ramtohul is a senior research consultant at StraConsult Ltd., the Afrobarometer national partner in Mauritius.

Zuhayr Mustun Zuhayr Mustun is a researcher at StraConsult Ltd.

Read the original article on Afrobarometer.

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