| Article Index |
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| A Brief General Profile on Inequality in Kenya |
| A Profile of Education in Kenya |
| A Profile of Crime and Insecurity in Kenya |
| All Pages |
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i) A Profile of Inequality in Kenya Socioeconomic Stratification: Poverty & Inequality
Recent events in Kenya have cast a disturbing light on the depth and complexity of social distress in the country. The conflict arising from the disputed presidential elections has roots in inequality, poverty, poor governance and a host of other issues. However the major underlying issue is clearly the perception of deliberate unfairness and inequality in the distribution of national resources. These perceptions have a basis in the real practice of successive Kenyan governments. However it can also be argued that beyond the real biases in resource allocation is the widespread failure of the State due to deliberate policies of retreat compounded by unchecked corruption. Poverty has progressively deepened as the state has reduced its provisioning of social services. This retreat of the state has been coincident with the slow and persistent decline that characterized the country’s economic performance from the 1980’s until the turn of the century. Thus narrowing economic perspectives due to declining economic growth, deepening inequality and pauperization due to Structural Adjustment and the arbitrary ravages of corruption have combined to create a multidimensional social crisis. The DPMF’s research on Social Policy Development and Governance has hinted at the inherent dangers of the ever yawning gap between the elite and marginalized majority in this country. Public policy has failed to gauge the depth of alienation and the consequent explosive social climate. However signs of the malaise have been apparent to scholars and policy makers for decades.
Our own research has looked at the links between class formation and inequality. Ultimately class interest may lie at the heart of policy choices that have been so harmful to the poor in Kenya. Findings from our data analysis show for instance that the income distribution of workers employed in the formal sector is in the form a pyramid. Thus the highest wage from 0 to 90% level is 15,000 a month. From 91% - 99 % the wage rockets to Kshs 100, 000. And the 1% above the 99% level earn beyond Kshs 100,000 a month. Thus the top 1% can be considered as the economic, social and political elite. And the nine percent below may be categorized as the various levels of the emerging middle class. The remaining 90% who earn 15,000 (highest) to 0 monthly are workers and peasants in urban and rural areas.
A more comprehensive picture of social stratification however is not possible given the lack of data on income and especially assets. Most households do not report truthfully or fully the assets they own in national surveys. Moreover such surveys are often designed to collect data on household consumption rather than ownership of assets or household wealth. Given these limitations, a large part of our analysis is restricted to the 14% of the Kenyan working population who are wage earners and their households. It is nevertheless clear that this sub set of the sample is representative of the broader society, in particular trends can be observed in the constitution of socio-economic classes. The huge inequality in wages, if anything understates that of wealth in general. Moreover it mirrors the huge qualitative difference in the living standards enjoyed by the ruling elite (political, business etc…) and those of everybody else. The wealth gap between the elite constituting less than 1% of the population but controlling disproportionate resources and earning sometimes thousands of times the median wage earned by the bottom 90% is only hinted at by the wage differentials. Clearly the wealthiest Kenyans make most of their money from their wealth and a more careful study of the wealth distribution using adapted data sources and methodology is required.
