Makueni and Kitui lead in number of children living without fathers

Makueni and Kitui counties lead in the number of children living with only their mothers yet their fathers are alive.

According to a report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), 37.0 per cent of children in Makueni are living with their mothers only.

This means that for every 10 children in Makueni, about four do not live with their fathers.

In Kitui, the number is at 34.3 while Murang’a comes third at 32.0 per cent.

Nationally, 21.2 per cent of children are living with their mothers only, even though their fathers are alive.

Kwale and Mombasa topped the list of counties where fathers live separately from children, yet their mothers are alive.

The survey put the figures at 6.7 and 5.4 per cent respectively. Kakamega and Vihiga counties were also listed among counties where fathers live with their children alone at 4.8 and 4.7 respectively.

Only 58.3 per cent of children in the country live with both parents.

Migori, Siaya and Homa Bay counties have the highest number of orphans in the country.

In the report, 21.4 per cent of the 639,000 children in Migori are orphans. The estimated figure of orphans in Migori is 136,746.

In Siaya, 16 per cent of the children are orphans while Homa Bay comes third at 15 per cent. Turkana County was fourth at 12.6 per cent.

Nationally, the survey shows that 8.4 per cent of children aged between 0-17 are orphans.

The findings show that there were more orphans in rural areas (8.7 per cent) compared to those in urban areas (7.7 per cent).

Bomet County has the lowest number of orphans at 4.6 per cent.

NEVER MARRIED

The report went further to list the percentage of orphans who are below 14 years.

In that age group, Migori still leads at 18.7 per cent, Siaya (12.7 per cent), Homa Bay (12.5 per cent) and Kisumu (12.1 per cent).

The report defined an orphan as a child under 18 years who has lost one or both parents.

Analysis by living arrangement shows that more than half (60 per cent) of the children below 15 years reside with both parents.

Children living with both parents was higher among urban residents (65.5 per cent) compared to rural areas (57.5 per cent).

Children living with a “guardian” or on their own was 8.6 per cent.

Even though the general population of women in the country is higher than that of men, (overall, the proportion of females was higher (50.6 per cent) compared to that of males (49.4 per cent).

Mombasa, Kwale, Garissa, Wajir, Mandera, Marsabit, Meru, Embu, Kiambu, Trans Nzoia, Kajiado, Bomet and Kisumu counties have more men than women.

Mombasa has 50.8 per cent men, compared to 49.2 women. Kisumu has 52.4 per cent men against 47.6 women.

Nationally, 54.4 per cent of the adult population is in monogamous unions, 27.0 per cent never married and 6.9 per cent are widows/widowers. Those separated and divorced accounted for 5 per cent of the population.

The proportion of the population in monogamous unions was higher in urban areas at 56.6 per cent compared to 52.8 per cent in rural areas.

Kirinyaga County has the highest proportion of population in monogamous unions at 63.3 per cent followed by Nakuru (62.6 per cent) and Nyandarua (61.8 per cent).

Mandera County had the lowest proportion of population in monogamous unions at 33.3 per cent.

The highest percentage of separated couples was recorded in Nyeri, Kirinyaga and Vihiga counties.

Couples who separated after marriage were 10.1 per cent, followed by Kirinyaga and Vihiga at 8.1 and 7.7 respectively.

Uasin Gishu County had the highest number of people above 18 years who are single and have never been married before at 35.7 per cent followed by Nandi, Baringo and Mombasa.

Machakos, Makueni, Nairobi and Baringo also fall in the 'above 30 per cent' figures of counties with unmarried people.

Turkana, Siaya and Migori counties recorded a higher proportion of widows/ widowers of above 10 per cent of their respective population.