Coronavirus renders half of women jobless - Report

More than half of the active women workforce in Kenya have been rendered economically inactive by the coronavirus, according to a survey by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).

The survey on the social-economic impact of COVID-19 on household (Wave 1) Unveiled yesterday by National Treasury cabinet secretary Ukur Yatani, shows 43.2 percent of the active labour force was rendered economically inactive by the virus, with women most affected.

The survey that sampled 16,292, interviewing 15,840 people with a response rate of 97 percent recorded the labour force participation rate of the population aged 18 years and above in seven days preceding the survey was 56.8 percent.

At least 30.5 percent of households in Kenya were unable to pay rent as agreed as the economic impact of coronavirus hit families, the latest report by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) has revealed.

It indicates that 21.5 percent of households who usually pay rent on due dates were unable to pay rent for the month of April, citing reduced earnings.

Despite an appeal by President Uhuru Kenyatta to landlords to consider their customers battered by economic vagaries of the virus, a mere 8.7 percent of tenants received some form of waiver for the same month.

Households could be headed for even tougher times if this pandemic softens by June. We appeal to the general public to maintain basic prevention measures as advised by experts,’’ Yatani said.

At least two in three men were in labour force while slightly more than a half 51.2 percent of female respondents were found to be outside labour force during the period under review.

At least 90 percent of those who were absent from work due to stay away was not sure when they would be returning to work.

The report is coming days after the Federation of Kenya Employers revealed that at least 342,300 jobs have been lost in the last two months as Covid-19 continues to ravage the economy.

According to the employers' body, more than one million other jobs are on the line as players in the formal and informal sector remain in a wait-and-see mode, with companies likely to continue laying off if the coronavirus pushes the economy further South.

FKE CEO Jacqueline Mugo revealed that companies continue to write to the Labour Ministry indicating their plans to lay-off. These include 20 members of FKE.

The KNBS survey that also looked at health, education and transport besides labour and housing indicated that at 17 percent of households reported having at least one member with a pre-existing medical condition, with one out of eight households indicating that a member sought health services during the period.

Homeschooling was reported as a main coping mechanism by 42.8 percent of households to continue with learning, with 24.6 percent of households with members who usually attend any learning institution not using any method to continue with learning.

There has been a 51.7 percent increase in transport costs despite the general drop in fuel prices globally due to oversupply triggered by Saudi Arabia, Russia price war.

Migori County recorded the highest increase of 77.2 percent while Turkana County experienced the lowest at 24.4 percent.

‘’Generally, the economy is expected to drop below the projected three percent if the virus is not contained by June,’’ Yatani said.

The survey found out that Kenyan’s were well aware of the virus, with almost 99.4 percent of adults above 18 years reporting to have heard about coronavirus, which was first reported in the country in mid-March.