Gender disparity challenge despite effort, says report

More efforts are required to close the disparity between men and women, Economic Planning Principal Secretary, James Muhati has said.

The PS said yesterday that the gender disparity remains a challenge despite tremendous progress across various indicators for the country, as shown in the recently released 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) report.

For instance, the PS said there has been a notable gender wage gap, with women earning less than men for comparable work.

“The average monthly earnings for women were Sh12,166 compared to men at Sh18,594. At the same time, 55 per cent of currently married women make decisions alone on how their cash earnings are used and 40 per cent make these decisions jointly with their husband,” said the PS.

He made the remarks during the World Population Day celebrations, held at a Nairobi hotel and organised by the National Council for Population and Development (NCPD).

Muhati called on all stakeholders to use the available data to reform policies in the country to accommodate and address all issues of gender equality positively.

The PS pointed out various disparities the countries is currently experiencing.

According to the PS, disparities still exist with seven women elected as Governors compared to 40 men last year, at elective leadership levels.

Additionally, three women compared to 44 men were elected as Senators while 29 women compared to 261 men were elected as Members of National Assembly.

At the county assembly level, 115 women compared to 1335 men were elected as Members of the County Assembly.

Another instance that Muhati pointed out is the fact that girls are less likely than boys to complete secondary education often due to early marriages, adolescent pregnancies and domestic work.

“Overall, about 12 per cent of women and 13 per cent of men have more than secondary education. Some 13 per cent of women compared to 10 per cent of men have no education, while about 15 per cent of both women and men have completed only primary education,” he said.

He also said the 2022 KDHS showed that 41 per cent of women and 36 per cent of men who have ever had an intimate partner reported having ever experienced economic, emotional, physical, or sexual violence by their current or most recent intimate partner.