While Kenya has made good progress in increasing women’s participation in the labour market, a high proportion of women are engaged in vulnerable or low quality work. A team of local researchers sought to understand the barriers preventing Kenyan women from accessing decent work. They found that the main constraints that women face are having young children, the limited enforcement of anti-discrimination laws, and a large informal sector. The team’s analysis indicates that policies to provide good-quality and affordable childcare, encourage post-secondary education for women and to support new businesses to remain formal could be effective for increasing women’s participation in decent work.
Find out more about the research methods, findings and policy recommendations in the following PEP publications: