Poverty and Exclusion in an Ethnically-Plural Society

In Mauritius, complex linkages between ethnicity and poverty exist. In an economic domain, discrimination emerges as a critical factor, affecting experiences with poverty and exclusion. Discriminatory processes play a role in the creation and maintenance of an ethnically-segmented labour market, and also reduce the mobility potential of education. In a political domain, the ethnically unrepresentative state distributes key resources and services with bias and some people face additional obstacles in their access to state institutions and resources. In a social domain, ethnic values play an important role in the social exclusion and isolation of some people within their ethnic groups. The causes and manifestations of poverty differ according to ethnicity. For Creoles, their experience with income poverty is largely shaped by their economic and political exclusion as a group. They are discriminated against in the economic domain, and are inadequately represented in state bureaucracy and politics. For many Hindus (especially widowed Hindu female-heads), and ethnically-mixed persons, an inability to draw upon social networks leads to poverty and further social isolation.