The number of married women in Kenya is steadily declining, while rates of divorce and separation continue to rise, according to the Kenya Vital Statistics Report 2024, released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) on Wednesday, July 9, 2025.

The report emphasises the significant role of marriage in population growth, noting that most children are born to married women. However, the stability of these unions appears to be waning.

In 1989, 63.1 per cent of women aged 15 to 49 were married. By 2022, that figure had dropped sharply to 48.1 per cent. During the same period, the number of divorced or separated women in this age group more than doubled, from 4.6 per cent in 1989 to 9.3 per cent in 2022.

“Most of the children born each year are born to married women, thus underscoring the role of marriage in population increase. However, some marriages end up in separation and/or divorce,” the report states. 

The data reveals a consistent upward trend in divorces and separations over the decades. After a slight dip in 1998, the percentage rose in almost every subsequent reporting period, peaking at 9.3 per cent in 2022. In contrast, marriage rates have continued a general decline since 1989, with only brief periods of slight recovery.

The 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) also examined marriage registration. It found that just 19.3 per cent of married women had registered their marriage with civil authorities, and only 15.6 per cent possessed a marriage certificate.

The report outlines that for a marriage to be officially recognised, it must be registered with the Registrar of Marriages. Similarly, divorces must go through the court process and be recorded by the Registrar to be legally acknowledged.

Overall, the findings highlight shifting trends in marital stability and legal recognition of unions, raising concerns about the long-term implications for family structures and population growth in Kenya.

Childbirth and divorce

Supreme Court Judge Njoki Ndung’u on February 12, 2025, said childbirth is considered a contribution a wife made to a marriage if the union is dissolved.

She said should a dispute arise during the division of matrimonial property, the court will decide based on the number of children the wife had for her ex-husband, even if she made no monetary contribution during the lifetime of the marriage.

“There’s one school of thought that has said when we dissolve a marriage, property must be divided at 50-50, and they said that that is what the constitution says,” the judge said.

“But there’s another school of thought that says no, what should happen is we should assess what a partner has contributed to the marriage and then we give it equitably,” she added.

Justice Ndung’u said both direct and indirect contributions, as well as monetary and nonmonetary contributions, are factors for consideration during the division of matrimonial property following a divorce.