Universal Pensions in Mauritius: Lessons for the Rest of Us

Larry Willmore ()

Public Economics from EconWPA

Abstract: That the Government of Mauritius provides nearly every resident over the age of 60 with a non-contributory, basic pension is one of the best-kept secrets in the world. The scheme dates from 1950 and became universal in 1958, following abolition of a means test. Remarkably, introduction of a compulsory, contributory scheme for workers in the private sector appears to have strengthened the non-contributory regime without affecting its universality. This paper examines the past and future of non-contributory, universal pensions in Mauritius, and draws lessons that might be useful for other countries, especially those in the developing world. United Nations DESA Discussion Paper No.32, April 2003.

Keywords: public pensions; social security; means test; targeting; demographic ageing; Mauritius (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H55 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-pub
Date: 2004-12-04
Note: Type of Document - pdf; pages: 23
View list of references View citations in EconPapers

Downloads: (external link)
http://129.3.20.41/eps/pe/papers/0412/0412003.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wpa:wuwppe:0412003

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Public Economics from EconWPA
Series data maintained by EconWPA ().