The working class in Nairobi have fewer jobless dependents compared to other regions.
For every jobless Nairobi resident, there are up to three working-class individuals who can meet their basic needs, data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) has revealed.
The March 2018 Labour Basic Report that analysed the country’s working force for 2015-2016 revealed that while there were three million workers in Nairobi, there were 1.4 million jobless dependents.
The majority of dependents are children below the age of 15 compared to the old, aged above 65, who number 48,500. This translates to a dependency ratio of 48 per cent.
However, if you are a worker living in North Eastern region, then you shoulder the biggest burden of jobless individuals.
This is because the dependency ratio stands at 134 per cent, meaning there are many jobless dependents looking up to a small workforce.
Working individuals
The region has 683,400 working class individuals compared to 917,700 dependents aged below 15 and above 65.
This high ratio was followed by Western region, where there are almost equal numbers of workers to jobless persons - at 2,457,600 workers and 2,438,300 jobless individuals.
“Normally, regions with high dependency ratios reflect high fertility rates in contrast with regions with low child dependency ratio,” says the report.
North Eastern had the highest child dependency ratio of 126. 9 per cent in 2016 and 112 per cent in 2009; while Nairobi had the lowest in both years at 46.7 per cent and 44.5 per cent in 2016 and 2009 respectively.
Rift Valley leads in the number of children (0-14 years) dependent on the work force, with 5.5 million, while North Eastern has the least at 867,300.
The Rift region also leads in the number of old persons depending on the working class, with 424,400 persons over the age of 65.
The report shows that rural areas had the higher child dependency ratios at 87.4 per cent compared to 56.1 in urban areas as at 2016.
Total dependency ratio in the country decreased to 81.6 per cent in 2016 compared to 86.9 per cent recorded in 2009.
“This implies that on average, 82 persons aged below 15 years and above 64 years depended on 100 persons of the working age population (15 to 64 years) in 2016,” reads the report.
Biggest population
The biggest population of these dependents at 73.8 per cent were identified as students - who are within the active labour age of 15 to 64 - but are yet to secure jobs.
Other dependents are housewives and stay-home husbands who make up family responsibilities (13.1 per cent), the sick and injured (3.5), and just 0.5 per cent who noted there were no jobs available for them.
“The age group '25-54' is considered the 'prime age' band representing of the interviewed individuals who are expected to be in labour. Understanding the reasons why they are not in labour is of essence,” the report reads.
Other regions with high dependency ratio of over 50 per cent ratio, which translates to high numbers of jobless dependents, are Rift Valley at 90 per cent, Nyanza at 93 per cent, Coast (77 per cent), Eastern (76) and Central (66).
The total dependency ratio indicator, the report explains, is used to show the burden that the productive part of the population shoulders.
“An increase in the indicator impacts negatively on financial and social welfare of the people. However, this indicator has the limitations that some persons classified as 'dependent' could be producers while others characterised as 'productive' could be economically-dependent,” it notes.
According to the report, there are 24.9 million workers and 20.3 million jobless individuals.
