A study has revealed that merely about a third of Kenyan employees in the formal sector are women. The study, which is titled Women and Men in Kenya, indicates that gender equality is still far from being achieved.
However, during the launch of the study last week, the National Treasury and Planning PS Dr Julius Muia said that although the one-third representations are discouraging, efforts were being made to change the status quo.
“The government has made significant progress in advancing gender equality in all sectors of the economy,” Dr Muia stated.
Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS’s) study shows that 880,000 women against 1.68 million men had formal sector employment in 2016. Moreover, the study indicates more men being employed in the formal sector than women in the fields of agriculture and manufacturing.
The agricultural sector has 112,000 Women with wage employment and 225,000 men. In addition, the manufacturing sector has 49,000 women with wage employment and 252,000 men.
In education, there are 249,000 women and 276,000 men with wage employment. In public administration, women in wage employment are 83,000 against 148,000 men. Furthermore, there are more men in the wholesale sector and corporate boardrooms. However, the service sector has 66,000 women in wage employment compared to 61,000 men.
