Kenya has miraculously beat USA, UK,France,Finland,Denmark and German to record the lowest unemployment rate. According to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, only 7.4 % of Kenyans are unemployed; the rest are actively working.
We have extracted a section of KNBS 2018 report which rubbishes the theory that more than 40% of Kenyans are unemployed. Here is the report in parts:
Key Labour Market Indicators Dependency Ratio: The total dependency ratio measures the burden which the productive part of the population shoulders to support the economically dependent. An increase in the indicator impacts negatively on financial and social welfare of the people. The survey revealed that total Dependency Ratio in the country decreased to 81.6 per cent in 2016 compared to 86.9 per cent recorded in the 2009 KPHC. Economically Active: In 2016, out of 39.3 million Kenyans aged five years and above, 55.5 per cent were economically active. The active population between ages 5 and 44 shows an increasing trend with the age cohort “40 – 44” reporting a maximum of 96.2 per cent. Overall, 93.7 per cent of the household heads were active. Majority of them (62.2 per cent) were from households with a maximum of four members. Analysis by sex shows that of the total active household heads, 69.1 per cent were male. Further, 95.7 per cent of the male household heads were active. In addition, 89.5 per cent of the female household heads were active. Labour Force Participation Rate: The overall labour force participation rate was 77.4 per cent. This indicates that slightly over 77 per cent of the working age population was either working for pay, profit, family gain or seeking employment. The highest participation rate was in the age cohort “40 – 44” at 96.2 per cent while the lowest was in the age cohort “15 – 19” at 32.4 per cent. Employment to Population Ratio: The overall employment to population ratio in the country increased to 71.6 per cent in 2016, from 69.3 per cent as recorded in the 2009 KPHC. The survey results also show that the ratio of person aged below 24 years had declined between 2009 and 2016. This indicator is used to evaluate the ability of the economy to create jobs. A high ratio implies that a large proportion of the population in the working age is employed, which generally has positive effects to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. Hours worked: Data on hours of work are important in distinguishing the various intensities of employment. More so, the information is useful in monitoring the working conditions which impact on the health and wellbeing of workers as well as levels of productivity and labour costs. The highest proportion of people (27.7 per cent) worked between “40 – 48” hours in a week. The age cohort “15-19” reported the highest proportion of 30.8 per cent working for less than 15 hours mainly attributable to schooling activities. Part Time Workers: Part time workers are the individuals who work fewer hours than full time employees. Based on 35 hours per week cut off, overall part time workers constituted 28.5 per cent of the 17.9million working population. In total, the working males were 9.2 million out of which 21.1 per cent were part time workers. Further, of the 8.7 million working females, part time workers accounted for 36.2 per cent. Education Attainment: Overall, 51.4 per cent of the total population reported primary level of education as the highest attained while 21.2 per cent had secondary level of education. Person with university level of education (undergraduate and postgraduate) accounted for 3.0 per cent of the population. Working Patterns: Out of the total employed persons aged 15-64, 63.2 per cent were full-time employees in 2016. Seasonal workers constituted 13.6 per cent while casual employees were 12.6 per cent. Majority of the fulltime and casual workers were aged below 45 years. On the other hand, most of the part-time workers were aged below 40 while majority of seasonal workers were below 35 years. Time-Related Under-Employment: The survey revealed that 3.7 million or 20.4 per cent of the employed persons in the working age population were under-employed. This number refers to those who were engaged during the reference period and worked less hours than desired and were willing and available to work for longer time period. Under-employment was higher in the rural areas at 26.6 per cent compared to the urban areas at 11.0 per cent. Majority of the under-employed (61.8 per cent) were females. Labour Underutilization: Labour underutilization gives an indication of the unmet need of employment among the population. Measures of underutilization identify groups among the employed and persons outside the labourforce who share similarities with the unemployed. The focus is on issues of insufficient labour absorption. i) Unemployment Rate (LU1): The survey results under the “strict” definition (not working, available and looking for work) show an overall 7.4 per cent unemployment rate. About 85 per cent of the unemployed were aged below 35. The largest unemployment rate was recorded in the age cohort “20 – 24” at 19.2 per cent. Majority of the unemployed for both Male and female were in the same age cohort. Female constituted 64.5 per cent of the unemployed. ii) Labour Underutilization (LU2): This measure is computed as the combined rate of time-related under-employment and unemployment. LU2 was calculated as 26.4 per cent with the highest rates of underutilization being observed in the youth age groups 15-29 and in the age category 55-64. Economically Inactivity: The main two reasons of inactivity were school attendance and family responsibilities accounting for 73.8 per cent and 13.1 per cent, respectively. Considering the prime age of “25 – 54”, family responsibility and sickness/ injury were the two main reasons for inactivity.