The Social Factors that Influence Growth of Women owned Businesses in the Informal Sector in Kenya: A Case of Women Street Vendors in Bungoma town, Bungoma District

This study was set to investigate the social factors that influence the growth of the women owned Small Enterprises in Kenya, A case study of women roadside traders in Bungoma town, Bungoma West District. The specific objectives of the study were to identify these social factors and determine those that influence growth of these women owned roadside enterprises. The study also explained why these women chose to operate along roadsides and other open areas. The social factors included level of education, age bracket, family size and marital status, training and previous occupation of the women entrepreneurs. The factors investigated, some were deemed to stimulate growth while others inhibited the rates of growth of informal sector so much so that these enterprises do not break into the domain of small-medium and large enterprises sector usually referred to as the "missing-middle". Studies done earlier also indicated that there is an influx of women entrepreneurs into the informal sector because of low yields and shrinking farm sizes. The research revealed that half of these women were married and had families and 84 percent of them had not been employed before, most of the women entrepreneurs had no training or previous skills in the business they were engaging in, 60 percent o f the women entrepreneurs were within the productive prime age of between 24 years to 45 years. The study therefore revealed that social factors have a diverse effect on the growth of the women owned informal enterprises.