Kisii Married Women Lead In Financial Autonomy, According To A Survey
Kisii Married Women Lead In Financial Autonomy, According To A Survey. 5 July, NAIROBI, Kenya – According to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) from 2022, married women in Kisii County lead the way in making autonomous decisions about their income.
According to a poll conducted by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), eight out of ten women in the region are in charge of their spending, despite making an average salary of Sh12,166, which is less than the average salary of men in the region of Sh18,594.
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It’s interesting to note that KDHS data shows that financial independence tends to rise as the number of live children increases.
Accordingly, it would seem that women who have five or more children are more self-reliant in terms of handling their finances and choosing how to spend their income.
According to the survey, “the proportion of currently married women who decide alone how to spend their cash earnings increases with the number of living children.”
According to the poll, married women in Kisii County are now more financially independent, which is a result of the government’s continued initiatives to support programs that empower women and advance gender equality.
These programs include bettering accessibility to government procurement opportunities as well as creating and allocating monies for affirmative action.
According to the poll, “the government has increased direct fiscal investment in programs for women’s empowerment over time.”
Kisii Married Women Lead In Financial Autonomy, According To A Survey
In terms of women’s autonomy in deciding how to spend their wages, the counties of Busia and Vihiga are placed second and third, respectively.
On the other hand, married women in West Pokot (26%) Kitui (31%), and Lamu (35%) counties have less control over how their income is spent.
These findings show the need for focused efforts to advance gender equality and empower women in these fields by demonstrating regional disparities in women’s financial autonomy and decision-making ability.
In the 12 months prior to the poll, 67% of currently married women between the ages of 15 and 49 who were employed at any point were female, whereas 98 percent of married men were employed at any point.
In terms of employed respondents, 93 percent of men and 77 percent of women reported receiving their pay in cash.
Compared to 4% of employed males, 19% of working women did not get any monetary or in-kind compensation.
