Social Interactions and Women’s Labour Market Outcomes in Kenya

Kefa Simiyu; Beatrice Mbinya

Kefa Simiyu University of Nairobi http://orcid.org/0009-0006-5411-0012
Beatrice Mbinya University of Nairobi http://orcid.org/0009-0005-1829-2253

Keywords: Education, Female labour force participation, Labour incomes, Sexual partnerships, Social interactions

Abstract

We analyze labour market participation and income among 15-49-year-old women in Kenya. Our covariates are a number of sexual partners, marital status, post-secondary school training, and the Program. The Program separates direct beneficiaries of Free Elementary School Education from non-beneficiaries. We utilize the 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey in a fuzzy regression discontinuity design. We test for robustness using quantile regression at the 10th, 50th, and 90th labour income quantile. Program participation raises single years of schooling by 4-5 months but does not affect labour incomes significantly. Women’s labour incomes decline significantly among women in the 50th labour income quantile. Post-secondary training significantly raises labour incomes. The longer the period a woman spends furthering studies beyond grade 12, the fewer the sexual partners. Reductions in women’s earnings due to non-husband sexual partners are driven by unmarried women. We recommend that the Government of Kenya and its developmental partners invest in enhancing the enrolment and completion of further studies, notably; college, TVET, and university.