All Mauritians have benefitted from the country's prolonged economic growth, particularly from the significant reduction in unemployment. A 1992 national survey found that 10.6 percent of the population was living below the poverty line. World Bank estimates put the poverty rate in 1999 at about 5 percent, however. These figures are difficult to compare across countries, since different countries have different definitions of poverty. Primary school enrolment is now close to 100 percent, up from 79 percent in 1980. Education and health care are free, and all Mauritians have access to safe water and sanitation. Life expectancy has also increased from 66 years in 1980 to 71 in 1998. According to the CIA World Factbook , life expectancy is now 75 years for females and 67 years for males.
However, poverty and wealth are still delineated to some extent along racial lines. Descendants of the French plantation owners still control a major portion of the economy, in spite of the fact that they only comprise 2 percent of the population. The Creoles, on the other hand, are the ethnic group which faces the greatest hardships. The recent increase in unemployment may rekindle the racial tensions which seemed to disappear during Mauritius's prosperous years.
In a country which is quite blatantly driven by Indian/French/UK and US interests, one sees no hope for this small but significant community. The UNDP places GNP per capita at $12,200 but this is a farce, the wealth is as unevenly distributes as Saudi Arabia, with the Franco-Mauritian and Indo-Mauritian population devouring the majority of the GDP. Nepotism in leadership roles has let to a decay in the Democratic nature of Mauritius and cowardice towards foreign policy is now prevalent, this was seen by the recent reactions of Ramgoolam towards Wikileak resources which states that the British Marine around Diego Garcia enables prolonged US occupation of the now naval base. Out of which the US conducts many of it's illegal, operations around the world
Back to the poverty, for a country which is beacon of prosperity both socially and economically in the African world, we see little done to combat the trend of unemployment and acute poverty in Mauritius. Indeed literacy rates, life expectancy and access to health services has increased, but only by as much as the increase in the wealthier segment of the population, and, with a health service which borders on the ridiculous and a lack of jobs once these children come out of school, there is really little improvement if any in the standard of life to rural communities in Mauritius.