WUNRN
KENYA
Direct Link to Report:
Institute of Economic Affairs -
Kenya
June 2008
PROFILE OF WOMEN'S SOCIO-ECONOMIC
STATUS IN KENYA
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AWID Analysis
KENYA - GENDER
INEQUALITY GROWING DESPITE CORRECTION EFFORTS
Inequality among Kenya’s men and women has defied recent efforts to correct it signalling that the need for policy makers to go back to the drawing board, a new report indicates.
The report by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) indicates shows that poor representation of women in post primary education is impacting negatively on women’s presence in the labour market.
Eldah Onsomu, a researcher with IEA said low representation of women in post-primary education institutions is also to blame for their poor representation in political decision making process as well as enterprise ownership.
Of the 68,049 Kenyans who attained the minimum qualification for admission in public universities in 2005 women accounted for only 37 per cent, according to the IEA report. This declined marginally to 24,837 in 2006.
“Low entry into universities translates to low penetration in the job market
leaving the men to dominate key sectors of the economy such as finance,
technology and engineering,” said Ms Onsomu.
Women account for only 20 per cent of the total financial services sector workforce while in manufacturing and transport, men account for close to 70 per cent.
On the other hand, more women have found employment in the education sector where they constitute 44 per cent of the primary school teaching force in 2006. The low participation of women in major sectors of the economy is attributed to the burdens arising from domestic and reproductive responsibilities.
IEA said recent developments in the labour market where expectant mothers have a right to three months maternity leave may further work against women’s progress at the workplace.
Sally Mukwana, the director Adept Systems, a head hunting firm for some of the major employers said prolonged maternity leave would make them less competitive.
Its is feared that women resuming from maternity leave of three months will take a longer period to catch up in the work place, making their male counterparts jump ahead in the promotion race.
The report also says women are being held back by beliefs about their aptitude, skills and disposition at the workplace. While the country has an affirmative action policy that requires employers to reserve at least 30 per cent of jobs for women, employers say their decisions are mainly determined by qualifications as opposed to gender inclination.
“It is not possible for me to
wait for a women with the right skills to take up a position, while there is a
man at hand who is qualified. It does not make business sense,” said a human
resource manager in the finance sector who declined to be named.
The report further says that female literacy levels are lower at 74 per cent compared to 85 per cent for their male counterparts.
Women also bear the heaviest HIV/Aids burden with a prevalence rate of 8.7 per cent, nearly twice that of men.
Nyanza province which has the highest number of people living with the virus also has the highest number of female headed households at 36 per cent. Central and Western follow both with 30 per cent.
While close to 50 per cent of the women now have access to credit, traditional practises governing land and livestock ownership, access and control over land tend to favour men, to a large extent disadvantageous to women in accessing loans due to collateral requirement.
Several initiates have, however, been taken up by micro finance institutions targeting women such Kenya Women Finance Trust and Equity Bank with women tailor-made loan facilities having helped bridge the gap.
On a positive note, a study by Finance Sector department ‘Depening 2007’, more women, 51 per cent tend to save than men.
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