'The Youth Fact Book: Infinite Possibility or Definite Disaster', a book I authored in 2010, has been
recognized as an authoritative one stop shop of youth facts, figures and
analysis with regard to the state of Kenya's youth population. It was featured
extensively in the article below.
By MWAURA KIMANI (email the author on pmkimani@ke.nationmedia.com)
By MWAURA KIMANI (email the author on pmkimani@ke.nationmedia.com)
The
numbers
32.2%
overall percentage
of workers on ‘Contract’ or ‘casual’ basis in Kenya
27m number of Kenyans below the age
of 30
Sh 6.6bn money allocated to ‘Kazi kwa
vijana’ initiative in current financial year
Social progress has stalled for millions
of youthful workers as employers revert to casuals to cut costs and protect
profits
of Kenyan youths joined the ranks of the working poor in the
past five years as employers turned to temporary or contractual jobs to cut costs
– stalling the social progress that usually comes with employment.
Temporary employment, which comes
without key benefits such as pension, health insurance or access to loan
facilities, has left the majority of young people either underemployed or underpaid
locking them up in the bottom quarter of the social pyramid, according to the
Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a Nairobi-based think tank.
Kenya has had one the most flexible
labour markets in Africa since the country embarked on economic liberalization
in the early 1990s. Market data, however, shows that deregulation deepened in
the past five years resulting in a steep rise in the number of part-time,
contract, and out-sourced workers with serious ramifications on the social
front.
Official statistics show that casual
employment grew by 13 per cent last year compared to a five per cent growth in
2007, reflecting increasing preference for casuals. Regular employment dipped
2.9 per cent during the same period.
This trend has seen the proportion
of casual workers in the formal sector of the economy increase gradually from
17.9 per cent in 2000 to 32.2 per cent last year.
“Hiring casuals contrasts sharply
with the country’s desire to reduce poverty and enhance social protection,”
said Katindi Sivi, a programme officer at IEA.
Inuka Kenya Trust, a civil society organization
that co-authored the labour market report with IEA, says social stagnation in
employment combined with the army of the unemployed have become the biggest
threat to Kenya’s long term stability requiring immediate action.
“We are sitting on a time bomb as
more youths continue to be out there without jobs while those who are employed
earn peanuts with little personal advancement,” said John Githongo, the chief
executive of Inuka Kenya Trust. “The danger is that unemployment or
underemployment is extending the burden of dependency on parents, diminishing
self-esteem fuelling frustrations and making crime an attractive option,” said
Mr Githongo.
Besides, underemployed or poorly
paid employees often become incapable of starting families, providing their
children with good healthcare or educating their off-springs – stalling social
progress in the long term.
IEA says Kenya’s dependency ratio
has increased in the recent past as more young adults – many of them in poorly
paying jobs – continue to rely on their parents for financial support.
Kenya’s rate of creating formal
sector jobs has continued to trail the number of young people entering the
labour market and analysts say that trend will continue even if economy grew at
the rate of more than 10 per cent annually.
The cascading of large numbers of young people to low-paying
informal sector jobs is seen as
one reason why Kenya’s income
disparity has been widening, a risk to social stability that is one of the key
pillars of Vision 2030.
Census results released in September
showed that 2.2 million Kenyans, the majority of them youths are unemployed and
are actively seeking jobs in an economy where growth slowed down to 1.6 and 2.6
per cent in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
The economy generated only 445,000
jobs in 2009 less than the 2008 figure of 475,000 and 486,000 in 2007.
Employers said the prevailing regulatory and business climate that is characterized
by high cost of investment and bureaucracy has made permanent employment
untenable, at least in the medium term.
“We recognize that youth unemployment is a crisis but employers
are just responding to the realities of the labour market,” said Betty Maina,
the chief executive at the Kenya Association of Manufacturers.
“Kenya’s new labour laws have raised
labour costs by at least 20 per cent since coming into force two years ago,
meaning employers have to look for ways of reducing the overheads,” she said.
The regulations, which came into force last year to protect casual workers from
exploitation, however, had the result of making the hiring of such employees
expensive. Many employers responded to the regulations with deep lay-offs of
temporary workers aiming to escape the extra cost. Hired on short-term
contracts, most casual workers labour for long hours under poor working
conditions and low wages, often without maternity, sick leave, housing and
medical allowances.
More recently, employees have been
denied the right to join trade unions and access to basic services like water
while some are victims of reported sexual harassment at the workplace.
As Kenya’s economy recovers, the realization
of Vision 2030 will largely depend on how fast the economy creates jobs for its
millions of unemployed youth.“Population growth of Kenya’s magnitude comes at a
high cost to a developing country in terms of provision of services and demands
higher economic growth manage or forces the government to stop providing some
social programmes,” said Prof Joseph Kieyah, the head of private sector
development division at Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and
Analysis.
The IEA’s findings also imply that
youth unemployment and biting poverty are likely to escalate in the next five
years. Youth unemployment remains one of Kenya’s top policy headaches to which
the government has responded with successive stop-gap measures such as
revolving funds and the Kazi Kwa Vijana initiative to help stem a looming
social upheaval.
These efforts have however come
under intense criticism over the methods of execution and their overall impact
on poverty.
The latest findings are expected to
stoke the old debate as to whether the Vision 2030, which is grounded on a high
economic growth - at 10 per cent - will have any impact on Kenya’s proverbial
mountain of poverty that has left more than half of the population in the
bottom income band.
“If we do not sort out the bulging
youth problem now, it is highly likely we will not achieve Vision 2030
targets,” said Dr Collins Opiyo, the Director of Population and Social
Statistics at the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. “The level of dependency
is rising as there is still the elderly to think about,” he said.
Revelations of how the youths are
being sidelined in the job market come just days after the National Social and
Economic Council (NESC) - a key State organ that is responsible for Kenya’s
economic policy - warned the 10 per cent annual rate of economic growth is not
enough to lift the estimated 60 per cent of the population from poverty – even
if that level was sustained for the next two decades.
Kenya aims to grow her economy by at
least 10 per cent annually by 2012, a medium-term target it hopes will create
more jobs, raise household earnings and close the gap between the rich and the
poor.
East Africa’s largest economy has
come under increasing pressure to find a policy mix that will accelerate
growth, stem rising cost of living, spur job creation and put more money in the
pockets of households by supporting key sectors.
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