Kenyan women more economically empowered than men

Throughout human history, the man has been envisioned as the natural head of the family and thereby the breadwinner.

Consequently, the man earned, saved, invested and directed household expenditure.

In this regard, the society would invest in the boy and empower him to fend for the whole family.

But how sustainable is this gender role moving forward?

GENDER EQUALITY
A few years back, the National Gender and Equality Commission conducted a research on the status of the boy child in Kenya.

A staggering 92 per cent of the respondents said that the boy was lagging behind in the gender equality agenda whereas only eight per cent disagreed.

The majority of respondents noted that the boy was disempowered because for more than 30 years, the society had focused on the girl, designing programmes and interventions to empower her at the expense of her brother.

Not so long ago, one blogger caused a storm when he carried this narrative to a national platform with assertions that the boy is neglected.

At a closer look, facts seem to lend credence to his school of thought.

ROLE MODELS
Data from across the world suggests that boys are more likely to drop out of school than girls.

They are more likely to abuse drugs. The boy, in some countries, is 20 times more likely to be imprisoned.

And sadly, boys have no role models on how to transition into men.

In the Economic Survey of 2017, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics indicates, there are more female than male teachers in Kenya.

From the onset, girls have the advantage of numerous role models while boys have to make do with a handful.

The boy is then by accident or design modelled by the men he sees outside the school.

These could be touts, construction workers, security guards or drunken relatives.

EMPLOYMENT

The problem is especially exacerbated if the boy is being raised by a single mother.

These factors contribute to the boy being vulnerable to societal vagaries.

The KNBS figures give a narrative of gender equity in employment with a difference of seven per cent.

However, the growth in the number of women employees is increasing faster than that of men.

If the purpose of women empowerment was mainstreaming, by and large, this goal has been achieved through legislation, policy and advocacy.

The boy child’s neglect is evidenced further in the absence of policies and programmes designed for him.

BANKING SECTOR
Barclays Bank International admitted in 2016 to having more women in their ranks at 51 per cent.

But why are banks hiring women en masse?

In the same year, the Central Bank of Kenya shocked the country when it revealed that 82 per cent of the savings in the country belong to women.

It is believed these savings are driven by the informal chamas!

On noticing the bulk of their customers are women, the banks formulated policies and products that favoured women.

This hiring trend has been followed by other financial service providers like insurance companies and fund managers.

The resultant effect is that women are landing jobs faster than men.

INVESTMENT
The contrast for men is obvious. Men do not have the cooperative savings discipline visible in the chama.

Very few men even belong to a savings or investments group.

Perhaps their biggest undoing today is unfettered access to sports betting.

In business, the Kenyan woman has access to loans from a myriad of microfinance institutions, pink bank loan facilities, government bodies like the Uwezo fund and Women Enterprise Fund, all of which are unavailable to men.

While statistics indicate women own and run 48 per cent of small and medium enterprises in Kenya, their growth figures are higher and more attractive.

REAL ESTATE
In an article published in this paper, Jorum Mwangi, the Heri Homes’ operations director in charge of construction, noted there were more young women buying property than there were young men.

In one of their projects in Mithonge, Kikuyu, he said: “Of the 63 who had bought the apartments, four were below the age of 30, and they were all women”. Women are investing more.

This skewed success has caused the boy to be intimidated and frustrated because he cannot measure up. The inequality has driven him deeper towards drugs and crime.

EDUCATION
Given the aforementioned, a girl enrolled in Standard One this January has a higher chance of graduating than a boy in the same class.

Further, a female fresh graduate has a higher chance of success in the next five years.

In the NGEC research, a parent in Embu was quoted as saying:

“You have concentrated on the girl child to the extent that the boy child has been turned into an avocado; we now educate our girls for outsiders to marry because there is no boy here to marry them”. Was she right?

Odhiambo is an economist and analyst @Odhiamboramogi