Employment
The educational and skills base of a county is an important factor in matching job seekers and employment opportunities. Kenya, as is the case with many developing economies, is characterised by a highly segmented labour market that includes household based enterprises, subsistence agriculture and a small wage sector. The country’s labour force is estimated at 20,249,800 persons, with 7.7 percent of them having no work (see Table 4.8). An estimated 23.7 percent of the population is engaged in wage employment (see figure 4.2). Those with secondary education and above in wage employment are 32.7 percent. The majority of the country’s population is engaged in agriculture (32.0 percent) on family owned land.
Farm based agricultural economy is subject to intermittent external shocks such as crop failure due to unpredictability of weather conditions, high costs of inputs, inaccessible markets and competition from imports. Individuals in rural areas are largely engaged in farming on family owned land (43.5 percent) while in urban areas, individuals mainly engage in wage employment (38.1 percent). Individuals working in family owned businesses and fulltime students account for 13.1 percent and 12.8 percent respectively, of the working population.
Educational attainment has implications for individuals’ participation in the labour market. Employment for pay is higher for individuals with secondary education in both rural (21.3 percent) and urban (43.2 percent) areas.
The gender of the household head is an important factor in employment due to attitudes and cultural norms vis a vis participation in the labour market, with implications on poverty and inequality. Interestingly, in rural areas, a higher proportion of the population in female headed households are engaged in wage employment (31.5 percent) compared with male headed households (16.8 percent). Wage employment in rural areas consists mainly of casual labour in farms.
Figure 4.2: Proportion of the population in wage employment by county
Table 4.8: Employment by type, education level and location
|
|
Work for pay |
Family business |
Family agricultural holding |
Intern/ volunteer |
Retired/ homemaker |
Fulltime student |
Incapacitated |
No work |
Number of individuals |
|
NATIONAL |
|||||||||
|
National |
23.7 |
13.1 |
32.0 |
1.1 |
9.2 |
12.8 |
0.5 |
7.7 |
20,249,800 |
|
None |
11.1 |
14.0 |
44.4 |
1.7 |
14.7 |
0.8 |
1.2 |
12.1 |
3,154,356 |
|
Primary |
20.7 |
12.6 |
37.3 |
0.8 |
9.6 |
12.1 |
0.4 |
6.5 |
9,528,270 |
|
Secondary+ |
32.7 |
13.3 |
20.2 |
1.2 |
6.6 |
18.6 |
0.2 |
7.3 |
7,567,174 |
|
Rural |
|||||||||
|
Total |
15.6 |
11.2 |
43.5 |
1.0 |
8.8 |
13.0 |
0.5 |
6.3 |
12,984,788 |
|
None |
8.5 |
13.6 |
50.0 |
1.4 |
13.9 |
0.7 |
1.2 |
10.7 |
2,614,951 |
|
Primary |
15.5 |
10.8 |
45.9 |
0.8 |
8.4 |
13.2 |
0.5 |
5.0 |
6,785,745 |
|
Secondary + |
21.0 |
10.1 |
34.3 |
1.0 |
5.9 |
21.9 |
0.3 |
5.5 |
3,584,092 |
|
Urban |
|||||||||
|
Total |
38.1 |
16.4 |
11.4 |
1.3 |
9.9 |
12.2 |
0.3 |
10.2 |
7,265,012 |
|
None |
23.5 |
15.8 |
17.1 |
3.1 |
18.7 |
1.5 |
1.6 |
18.8 |
539,405 |
|
Primary |
33.6 |
16.9 |
16.0 |
1.0 |
12.3 |
9.5 |
0.4 |
10.2 |
2,742,525 |
|
Secondary + |
43.2 |
16.1 |
7.5 |
1.3 |
7.1 |
15.6 |
0.2 |
9.0 |
3,983,082 |
|
MALE HEADED |
|||||||||
|
National |
|||||||||
|
Total |
25.5 |
13.5 |
31.6 |
1.1 |
9.0 |
11.4 |
0.4 |
7.5 |
14,757,992 |
|
None |
11.4 |
14.3 |
44.2 |
1.6 |
13.9 |
0.9 |
1.0 |
12.6 |
2,183,284 |
|
Primary |
22.2 |
12.9 |
37.3 |
0.8 |
9.4 |
10.6 |
0.4 |
6.4 |
6,939,667 |
|
Secondary+ |
35.0 |
13.8 |
19.8 |
1.1 |
6.5 |
16.5 |
0.2 |
7.0 |
5,635,041 |
|
Rural |
|||||||||
|
Total |
16.8 |
11.6 |
43.9 |
1.0 |
8.3 |
11.7 |
0.5 |
6.3 |
9,262,744 |
|
None |
8.6 |
14.1 |
49.8 |
1.4 |
13.0 |
0.8 |
1.0 |
11.4 |
1,823,487 |
|
Primary |
16.5 |
11.2 |
46.7 |
0.8 |
8.0 |
11.6 |
0.4 |
4.9 |
4,862,291 |
|
Secondary+ |
23.1 |
10.6 |
34.7 |
1.0 |
5.5 |
19.6 |
0.2 |
5.3 |
2,576,966 |
|
Urban |
|||||||||
|
Total |
40.2 |
16.6 |
10.9 |
1.3 |
10.1 |
10.9 |
0.3 |
9.7 |
5,495,248 |
|
None |
25.8 |
15.5 |
16.1 |
3.0 |
18.2 |
1.4 |
1.3 |
18.7 |
359,797 |
|
Primary |
35.6 |
16.9 |
15.4 |
1.0 |
12.8 |
8.1 |
0.3 |
9.9 |
2,077,376 |
|
Secondary+ |
45.1 |
16.6 |
7.3 |
1.2 |
7.4 |
13.8 |
0.1 |
8.5 |
3,058,075 |
|
FEMALE HEADED |
|||||||||
|
National |
|||||||||
|
Total |
18.9 |
11.9 |
32.7 |
1.2 |
9.8 |
16.7 |
0.7 |
8.1 |
5,518,645.0 |
|
None |
10.3 |
13.0 |
44.5 |
1.9 |
16.4 |
0.8 |
1.8 |
11.2 |
974,824.0 |
|
Primary |
16.7 |
11.7 |
37.1 |
0.9 |
9.8 |
16.2 |
0.6 |
6.9 |
2,589,877.0 |
|
Secondary+ |
25.9 |
11.6 |
21.1 |
1.3 |
6.6 |
25.2 |
0.3 |
8.1 |
1,953,944.0 |
|
Rural |
|||||||||
|
Total |
31.5 |
15.7 |
12.8 |
1.5 |
9.3 |
17.0 |
0.5 |
11.6 |
1,781,078.0 |
|
None |
8.4 |
12.3 |
50.3 |
1.6 |
15.8 |
0.6 |
1.7 |
9.4 |
794,993.0 |
|
Primary |
13.0 |
9.9 |
43.8 |
0.8 |
9.5 |
17.0 |
0.6 |
5.4 |
1,924,111.0 |
|
Secondary+ |
16.0 |
8.9 |
33.0 |
1.1 |
6.8 |
28.0 |
0.3 |
6.0 |
1,018,463.0 |
|
Urban |
|||||||||
|
Total |
12.8 |
10.1 |
42.2 |
1.0 |
10.1 |
16.5 |
0.8 |
6.4 |
3,737,567.0 |
|
None |
19.1 |
16.5 |
19.0 |
3.2 |
19.4 |
1.7 |
2.2 |
18.8 |
179,831.0 |
|
Primary |
27.5 |
17.1 |
17.8 |
1.1 |
10.8 |
13.9 |
0.6 |
11.3 |
665,766.0 |
|
Secondary+ |
36.8 |
14.5 |
8.1 |
1.5 |
6.4 |
22.1 |
0.2 |
10.4 |
935,481.0 |