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Changes in gender differences in household poverty in Kenya

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  • Jared Masini Ichwara
  • Tabitha W. Kiriti-Ng’ang’a
  • Anthony Wambugu

Abstract

Gender poverty differences in households are likely to affect female-headed households more than male-headed households. This paper examined the evolution of the gender poverty rate gap and identified the factors that underlie differences in poverty rates between female-headed households and male-headed households using the most recent representative household surveys conducted by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics in 2005/06 and 2015/16. An extended Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition analysis with nonlinear regression was performed. The findings indicate that poverty rates for female-headed households and male-headed households declined from 38.56 to 32.73% in 2005/06 to 30.23 and 26.04% in 2015/16, respectively. Although female-headed households (1.12) have a higher chance of falling into poverty than male-headed households (0.95), the decline in the poverty rate was higher for female-headed households (8.33%) than for male-headed households (6.69%). Therefore, the results do not support the feminization of poverty hypothesis in Kenya. Factors that have bridged the gender poverty gap include cash transfers that explain 11.02% of the gaps, literacy (53.97%), university education (10.39%), secondary education (40.84%), employment in public and private sectors (26.66%) and business employment (10.58%). Recommended policies include the implementation of the gender policy and affirmative action, enhancing literacy levels, and secondary and university enrolment.

Suggested Citation

  • Jared Masini Ichwara & Tabitha W. Kiriti-Ng’ang’a & Anthony Wambugu, 2023. "Changes in gender differences in household poverty in Kenya," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(1), pages 2191455-219, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:oaefxx:v:11:y:2023:i:1:p:2191455
    DOI: 10.1080/23322039.2023.2191455
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    Cited by:

    1. Rong Ran & Lei Hua & Tingrou Li & Yejing Chen & Junfu Xiao, 2023. "Why Have China’s Poverty Eradication Policy Resulted in the Decline of Arable Land in Poverty-Stricken Areas?," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-18, September.

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