| dc.description.abstract | Women constitute more than half the population in Kenya (Population Census,1989). Therefore, their development and levels of productivity are very vital for the development of the country. In this regard, an improvement in their status and welfare is necessary. This study highlights the socio-economic conditions of female migrants. It starts off by looking at the push factors in rural areas that make women migrate. In the urban areas, this study looks at the areas these women settle at and the conditions of these areas. The study also looks at the type of jobs these women engage in and assessesthe working conditions of these jobs. The study goes ahead and looks at the major constraints to women development in Kenya. The study areas dealt with are Mathare Valley and Kibera in Nairobi. These are low income areas. The methodology used for data collection was the questionnaire method. This was done by the use of home interviews using a structured questionnaire. A random sample of 120 households was selected and the head of every household interviewed. The data collected from the interviews highlighted the socio-economic conditions of female migrants. It showed that, the majority of these women have unfavourable working conditions as they work for long hours and get low pays. These women, because of their poor economic conditions, stay in slum and squatter settlements that lack most of the required social and infrastructural facilities.For data analysis, both the qualitative and quantitative methods were used. The quantitative methods used were percentages, mean standard deviations, the minimum and maximum figures. The results of these measurements indicated clearly that, a large percentage of women migrated from rural areas because of broken marriages, having got children out of wedlock or because their husbands had died. These women migrated to towns because they hoped to get jobs there. Once in towns, they engaged in the informal sector jobs that earned them low pays and had unfavourable working conditions.The Chi-Square method was used to test the hypotheses that stated that, "there is no significant relationship between the educational level of these women and the type of jobs they engage in. The results of this analysis measured at 0.05 level of confidence indicated that, the majority of women in the sample had no education or had only primary education and thus got jobs in the urban informal sector. The Chi-Square Method once again was used to test the hypothesis that stated that, "there is no significant relationship between the educational level of these women and their income. The results of this analysis measured once again at 0.05 level of confidence, indicated that a large number of women with some secondary education had higher incomes as compared to the majority of women with no education at all. The final analysis was by use of simple linear regression analysis. This was used to test the hypotheses" there is no significant relationship between income of female migrants and hours spent at work". The results of the analysis indicated that, the majority of the women spent long hours at work and yet earn very little for it. The regression line of best fit describing the relationship between the two variables was expressed as follows: Y = 55.32-2.18X1 This indicates a negative relationship between hours spent at work and incomes these women get.In conclusion, we can say that, the study indicates that female migrants leave rural areas because of frustrations. They migrate to urban areas with a hope of bettering their lives. In the urban areas because of their low educational levels, they get jobs in the informal sector. These jobs have low incomes and unfavourable working conditions.These women therefore reside in slums and squatter settlements and therefore their social and economic conditions are pathetic. The study has finally given recommendations and suggested areas for further studies and research. Major recommendations given are that, the inheritance law should enable women inherit property from either their parents or husbands, the Government should encourage the growth center policy in order to create attractive conditions in rural areas, the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, should be studied alongside the Kenyan laws (both traditional and legal) to determine what changes are necessary and to promote deserving women to key policy and decision making levels. These recommendations are aimed at curbing rural-urban migrations and have suggested ways the government can intervene to improve the status of women. These recommendations may not solely solve the problems of women, but if the Government,adhered to some of them,then the status and situation of women in this country, may be improved. | |
