Factors explaining female labour participation across different sectors in Kenya
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Date
2012Author
Kiranga, Francis M
Type
ThesisLanguage
en_USMetadata
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The general view of the informal sector is that it comprises of activities primarily of petty traders involved in such activities as selling second hard clothes, shoe shining, food selling and repair etc. Most of the informal sector workers operate mainly from streets of main urban centres.These activities generate income and profits though on small scale, uses simple skills and are dynamics and not tied to regulation of the activities. They have fewer employees (especially home based enterprises), they operate for a shorter period and have poor access to water and electricity (World Bank, 2006 P.32).
In Kenya, married women enter into informal sector probably to help husbands in boosting the family's income. The husband provides in most cases the capital for starting the business. However, sometimes the husband may feel threatened by the success of such businesses and withdraw the financial support or bar women from operating the business. The labour market in Kenya has undergone several changes since the country's independence in 1963. For instance, owing to a rapid expansion of its education system, the supply of educated labour has increased over time.
Furthermore, since the 1970s real wages have dropped steeply and the implementation of structural adjustment reforms (SAP) in 1980s has been accompanied by changes in the structure of employment, incomes and poverty. The economy has performed poorly as evident from low GDP growth and declining real earnings and standard of living. Both unemployment and informal sector employment have increased (informal sector employment has increased from 20% in 1988 to 79.1 % in 2007) while formal sector or modem wage employment has declined (from 77.5 % in 1988 to 20.2 % in 2007). This paper analysis what drives women to respond to different sectors of the labour force in Kenya in particular the informal sector especially given the renewed interest by the government and the private sector in Kenya today.
Publisher
University of Nairobi, Kenya