The effect of economic crisis on youth precariousness in Nairobi. An analysis of itinerary to adulthood of three generations of men and women
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Date
2004Author
Owuor, SO
Agwanda, AO
Bocquier, P
Khasakhala, A
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Since the pioneer analysis of the labour market by the ILO team in the early 1970s, the NUrIP, which
collected about 1,600 biographies among a sample of the Nairobi adult population, is the first to
provide for a comprehensive view of the social, demographic and employment situation of Nairobi.
The analyses draw a picture of surprising stability of the process of entry into adult life in Nairobi. The
timing of events remains the same and most of the delay experienced by the younger generation can be
attributed to the economic crisis of the 90s. The city of Nairobi is first and foremost the main formal
labour market in Kenya. This characteristic that traces back into colonial time vastly influences the
model of circular migration between the hinterland and the city and also the household and family
formation. Whereas employment is clearly the key to entry into adult life for men, it plays a marginal
role for women. That might explain why the Nairobi labour market reacted to the economic crisis of
the 90s by rejecting females. Gender differences are more striking than differences by generation or by
social or geographical origin. Discrimination against women on the Nairobi labour market should be
seriously considered as an explanation for their declining labour participation.
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URI
http://basepub.dauphine.fr/bitstream/handle/123456789/4467/2004-04.pdf?sequence=1http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/42014
Publisher
Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts, University of Nairobi