In 2014, divorce rate was on the rise



INTRODUCTORY NOTES

1. Demographic characteristics

1.1 Population

The resident population of the Republic of Mauritius was estimated at 1,261,721 as at 31st December 2014, of whom 637,387 were females (616,083 in the Island of Mauritius and 21,204 in the Island of Rodrigues). The percentage of women was 50.5% in the Republic of Mauritius in both 2013 and 2014. In 2014, the mean age of women for the Republic of Mauritius was 36.5 years against 34.9 for men.

1.2 Births

Women gave fewer births in 2014 as compared to 2013. The number of births occurring in the Republic of Mauritius in 2014 was 13,415 (6,781 male and 6,634 female) compared to 13,688 (6,940 male and 6,748 female) in 2013 corresponding to a crude birth rate of 10.6 per 1000 mid year population compared to 10.9 in 2013. The total fertility rate which can be calculated as the average number of children born per woman was 1.44 and 1.43 respectively for 2013 and 2014.

1.3 Infant and Maternal Mortality Rate

The infant mortality rate (per 1,000 live-births) increased from 12.1 in 2013 to 14.5 in 2014 while maternal mortality rate (per 1,000 live-births) decreased from 0.66 to 0.52 during the same period.

1.4 Deaths

In the Republic of Mauritius, the registered number of deaths for 2014 was at 9,682 (5,329 male and 4,353 female) compared to 9,440 (5,237 male and 4,203 female) in 2013 giving a crude death rate of 7.7 per 1,000 mid-year population compared to 7.5 in 2013. Lower mortality was observed for women than for men, with crude death rate being 8.5 for men and 6.8 for women.

The major cause of death among men and women in 2014 was diabetes, heart diseases and cerebrovascular diseases. Diabetes accounted for 27.3% of deaths among women and 23.0% among men. Heart diseases and cerebrovascular accounted for 19.2% and 8.6% of death among women and 19.2% and 8.6% of death among men.

Diseases specific to women, such as breast cancer, cervical cancer, cancer of uterus including cervix uteri and ‘complications of pregnancy and childbirths’, resulted in 5.1% of all deaths among women. On the other hand, ‘prostate cancer’, which is applicable to men only, was the cause of 1.5% of deaths among men.

1.5 Marriages

In the Republic of Mauritius, the number of registered marriages increased from 9,575 in 2013 to 9,959 in 2014, giving a crude marriage rate, defined as the number of persons getting married per 1,000 mid-year population of 15.8 against 15.2 in 2013. In the Island of Mauritius it increased from 9,393 in 2013 to 9,796 in 2014, giving a crude marriage rate of 16.1, against 15.4 in 2013 and in the Island of Rodrigues it decreased from 182 to 163 for the same period giving a crude marriage rate of 7.8 compared to 8.6 in 2013.

1.6 Divorces

In 2014, divorce rate was on the rise. There were 2,262 divorces registered for the Republic of Mauritius in 2014, showing an increase of 678 as compared to 2013 (1,584). The crude divorce rate increased from 2.5 persons divorced per 1,000 mid-year population in 2013 to 3.6 in 2014.

1.7 Marital status

The 2011 population Census data for the Republic of Mauritius revealed that 58.9% were in a married state or living with a partner, On the other hand, 27.6% is made up of single population. The proportion of widowed and divorced/separated population was at 8.1% and 4.2% respectively.

The proportion of single (never married) persons was higher among males than females. About 33.2% of males were single against 22.3% for females, mainly because women tend to get married at an earlier age than men.

Widowhood was found to be higher among women than among men as a result of a higher life expectancy among women. About 13.9% of women were widowed against 2.2% for men.

The proportion of married was about 60.0% among men and 57.9% among women.

1.8 Life expectancy

There has been a general improvement in life expectancy over the years though improvement was more pronounced among males. This has led to a decrease in the gap in life expectancy at birth between males and females from 7.2 in 2009 to 6.6 in 2014. The life expectancy at birth for 2013 in the Republic of Mauritius was 77.6 years for women compared to 71.0 years for men. Life expectancy among males as well as that among females increased to reach 71.1 years and 77.7 years respectively in 2014.

2. Education

In 2000 and 2011 Population Censuses data revealed that though the overall educational attainment is higher among male population, there are no marked differences between men and women at the different levels. Among those aged 15 years and above, 86.4% of women had attained primary education or higher against 94.7% among men in 2000, whilst in 2011, the corresponding figures were 92% and 97.4% respectively. It is, however, worth noted that nearly 8% of the female population have not been to school or reached only the preprimary level against 3% for the male population. 3.9% of women held a university degree compared to 5.6% for men.

The pre-primary school population in the Republic of Mauritius was 30,142 in 2014 compared to 31,419 in 2013. Boys represented 50.3% of the 2014 pre-primary school population and girls 49.7%. The Gross Enrolment Ratio (pre-primary enrolment as a percentage of the population aged 4 to 5 years) was 98 % for boys, same as for girls.

The primary school population in the Republic of Mauritius was 105,300 in 2014 compared to 108,853 in 2013. Boys represented 50.5% of the 2014 primary school population and girls 49.5%. The Gross Enrolment Ratio (primary enrolment as a percentage of the population aged 6 to 11 years) was 97 % for boys and 98% for girls.

However, at secondary level (academic), the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) was higher for girls than for boys. The 2014 Gross Enrolment Ratio was 78% for girls against 69% for boys.

Regarding overall performance in examinations, it was observed that girls were more successful than boys. In 2014, the pass rate among school candidates who took part in the Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) examination was 79.7% for girls as compared to 66.6% for boys. For the School Certificate (SC) examinations, girls recorded a higher pass rate, 76.1% against 70.1%. The pass rate for girls at the Higher School Certificate (HSC) was 79.1% against 70.0% for boys.

3. Economic Characteristics

As in previous years statistics indicate that women are still less economically active than men. In 2014, 45.4% of women aged 16 years and above were actively participating in the economy against 75.2% among men of the same age group. The corresponding percentages for 2013 were 45.3% and 75.1% respectively.

In 2014, nearly 48% of working men were either employed as plant and machine operators or engaged in elementary occupations. About 18% of them were service and sales workers. As regards to working women, nearly 32% were either employed as plant and machine operators or engaged in elementary occupation. About 24% of them were service and sales workers.

Among employed women, 24.4% drew an average salary of up to Rs 4,000 compared to 8.4% among employed male. Only 41.6% of employed women received a salary above Rs 10,000 while the percentage stood at 63.7% for their male counterparts. The mean income was lower for women than for men – Rs 14,800 against Rs 19,900 monthly in 2014.
In 2014, women comprised around 34.3% of the persons employed in the Government services (Central and Local Government). About 66.4% of those employed in various Ministries were technicians, associate professionals and clerks.

4. Persons receiving pensions and with disabilities

Basic Retirement Pension, also known as old-age pension, is payable to every Mauritian citizen aged 60 years and above, subject to certain residency conditions. The number of old-age pensioners, which stood at 177,721 as at end 2013 increased by 3.8% to reach 184,487 as at end 2014. The proportion of old-age female pensioners was 56.1% in 2014.

Basic Widow’s Pension is payable to widows aged 16 to 59 years who were civilly and/or religiously married to their late husband. The number of beneficiaries of Widow’s pension decreased by 1.0%, from 20,511 as at December 2013 to 20,302 as at December 2014.

The Basic Invalid’s Pension is payable to any person aged 15 to 59 years if certified by Medical Board that the person is either permanently or substantially incapacitated to work to a degree of 60% or more for at least 12 months. The number of such beneficiaries decreased from 30,930 as at December 2013 to 30,715 as at December 2014, showing a decrease of 0.7%.

Social Aid is an income-tested scheme. It is payable to the head of a family who is incapable of earning his living adequately and who has insufficient means to support himself and his dependents. The total number of families benefiting from such assistance increased by 3.3% from 20,570 in December 2013 to 21,246 in December 2014.

Figures on persons with disabilities are obtained from statistics of beneficiaries of invalidity pension. The number of such persons was 47,527 (of whom 21,422 were men and 26,105 were women) as at December 2014.

5. Domestic Violence and Child Abuse

The total number of cases registered at the Family Support Bureau was 4,950 in 2014, among which 2,301 cases were domestic violence.

In 2014, 1,506 (89.6%) new female cases of domestic violence were reported at the Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare. One out of every 10 cases of domestic violence was against men.

The main cause behind domestic violence identified in new adult cases reported in 2014 were physical assault by spouse/partner, verbal assault by partner, harassment by spouse and threatening assault by spouse.

The total number of cases of child abuse reported at the Family Support Bureau increased by 3.8% from 5,684 (54.4% for female) in 2013 to 5,903 (55.6% for female) in 2014.

6. Children

6.1 Child population

In 2014, 24.8 % of the population in the Republic of Mauritius was less than 18 years. The corresponding percentages for the Island of Mauritius and Island of Rodrigues for 2014 were 24.5 and 33.4 respectively.

6.2 Juvenile offences

From 2013 to 2014, the juvenile offenders (excluding contraveners) involved in crime and misdemeanors increased by 5.2% from 652 to 686, of whom 215 (31.3%) in assaults, 178 (25.9%) in larceny and 63 (9.2%) in sexual offences. The juvenile delinquency rate (excluding contraventions) rose to 5.8 per 1,000 juvenile population from 5.5 in 2013 for Republic of Mauritius.

In 2014, the juvenile delinquency rate for the Island of Mauritius was 5.9 and that for Rodrigues 3.2.

6.3 Orphans

Basic Orphan’s Pension (BOP) is payable to all orphans under the age of 15, or under 20 years, if they are in full-time education. As at December 2014, the number of beneficiaries of BOP in the Republic of Mauritius totaled 372, among whom 181 were females and 191 males.

In 2014, the total number of children benefitting from Child’s allowance was 16,311 (8,459 males and 7,852 females).

6.4 Children deprived of family environment

The number of children separated from their families and admitted in institutions increased from 133 in 2013 to 197 in 2014.

Five children were placed in foster families in 2014 as compared to eight in 2013.

7. Training organized by the Home Economics Unit of Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare

7.1 Persons following training courses

The number of persons following training courses conducted by the Home Economics Unit of Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare was 3,338 in 2014. In 2014, 3,328 women and 10 men attended the courses compared to 3,533 women and 87 men in 2013.

8. Gender Gap Index (GGI)

8.1 Gender Gap Index

The Global Gender Gap Index (GGI) seeks to measure one important aspect of gender equality; their relative gaps between women and men across a large set of countries and across four key areas: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment. The equality benchmark is considered to be one with no gap between men and women.

Mauritius holds the 106th position overall out of 142 countries in 2014, regressing from the 98th position held in 2013.

Posted by on Jan 28 2016. Filed under Santé. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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