Farmers
at a nursery
/FILE
In the latest Kenya Economic Update, the global lender says that half of all employed women report work in field crop, vegetable, and horticultural roles (21 per cent), shop assistant positions (10.98 percent), as cleaners, launderers, and domestic workers (10.9 percent), or as street vendors and related roles (8.02 per cent).
“These roles collectively absorb fewer men, with 27.6 percent of them reporting employment in these same fields. Such patterns of occupational segregation perpetuate existing gender disparities in earnings and economic security particularly as these sectors typically engage in lower-paying, informal, and often precarious jobs, with limited opportunities for advancement,’’ the bank says.
It adds that addressing this imbalance is critical to ensuring women’s broader participation in diverse and higher-paying sectors, ultimately contributing to their economic empowerment and reducing systemic inequalities in the labor market.
The lender adds that women in Kenya spend more time than men in unpaid domestic and care work which can reduce the time they have for paid work.
On average, the bank says that women in Kenya spent 18.7 cent (corresponding to approximately five hours) of their time each day in unpaid domestic and care work compared to 3.6 per cent for men (corresponding to approximately 1 hour).
This means women spent 5 times more time in unpaid domestic and care work than men.
According to the report, time spent on unpaid domestic care work is slightly higher for rural women at 16.5 per cent compared to 15.9 per cent for urban women.
“Women living in Arid counties bear the greatest burden of unpaid care work. They spent an average of six hours a day on unpaid care work.”
The report shows that
women aged 25 to 44 years spent
21 per cent of their time each day
in unpaid domestic and care work
compared to 3.4 per cent for men.
