A Study on Women in the Labour Force in Kenya

Abstract

The global labor force participation rate for women remains significantly lower than that of men, with only 53 percent of women participating in the labor force in 2022, compared to 80 percent of men. This is despite the majority of countries commitment to the 8th goal of the Post 2015 UN Development Agenda to assist in fostering inclusive and sustainable economic growth, ensuring equitable employment opportunities and decent work for every individual, irrespective of gender, by the year 2030 Closing the gender gaps in the labor market would substantially boost global GDP and those of individual countries including Kenya where the gender gap in the labor force was about 13 percentage points in 2020 and about 22 percentage points in business ownership in 2016 in favour of men.

This publication is a comparative analysis of labor force participation among men and women in employment and entrepreneurship in Kenya. The objective is to establish the situation of women in the workforce; identify gender gaps and access barriers to employment and entrepreneurship, and gender-related data gaps in the national surveys on the labor market. It also examines the adequacy of available policies, programs, and regulations to safeguard women in the workforce and recommend improvements.

This study is based on nationally representative datasets. The study reprocessed and analyzed data (secondary data) initially collected by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), and international datasets by the World Bank and the International Labour Organization (ILO). It also reviewed relevant literature from published and grey literature and the Kenya law office.