AN ASSESSMENT OF THE GENDERED EFFECTS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON HOUSEHOLDS

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is arguably one of the biggest pandemics to hit the world in recent times. It began in Wuhan, China and within a span of a few months took a toll on all the countries. A pandemic of such magnitude was witnessed when the 1918 flue pandemic started in Europe, spreading to United States of America, Asia and later to the rest of the world. Globally, the pandemic has affected the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Governments across the world, including Kenya, have taken up different containment measures including introduction of economic stimulus programs to cushion women and men, girls and boys and the economy at large, from the devastating effects of the pandemic. In Kenya, the pandemic and its associated containment measures resulted in unprecedented effects on the country’s economic and social outcomes such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and people’s well-being with a disproportionate burden falling on women and girls.

This report analyses the gendered socio-economic effects of COVID-19 and provides policy recommendations that will guide responses, interventions and recovery plans for COVID-19 in Kenya. Specifically, the report assesses the effect of COVID-19 on: incomes including remittances; food security; education; unpaid care and domestic work; access to healthcare services; access to sexual and reproductive health services; access to social protection; access to water and sanitation services; gender-based violence (GBV) due to restrictions associated with COVID-19, and the prevention and response mechanisms. The analysis in this report is informed by primary data collected from a sample of 2,587 individuals from all the 47 counties in Kenya between 4th August and 8th September 2020 using Computer Assisted Telephonic Interviews (CATI). Due to the sensitivity of GBV information and the need to uphold the privacy of respondents in the survey, a separate SMS-based survey was conducted. Two questionnaires were administered to a sample of 2,482 individuals drawn across all the 47 counties in Kenya. The same individuals were interviewed at different times with the duration of each interview lasting not longer than 20 minutes. A total of 34 Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), that is 19 women and 15 men, were conducted from both State and non-State actors to complement and triangulate the findings from the individual/ household data while drawing more insights on the effects and recovery plans from the pandemic.