Survey reveals monthly income for Kenyan households

Demographic profile; main source of self employment in Kenya

NAIROBI, KENYA: Nearly half of Kenya households earn less than Sh10,000 per month while two percent have completely no income .

A new survey by Ipsos Public Affairs on estimated total monthly income also indicates that 1 percent earns between Sh55, 000 to Sh75, 000 and another one percent earning between Sh75,000 and Sh100000 per month.

“24 percent earn between Sh10,000 and Sh25000, ten percent earns between Sh25,000-Sh40,000 and another three percent earns between Sh40,000 and Sh55,000 per month,” according to the research findings.

The study for the first quarter of 2018 involved face to face interviews at the household level with Kenyan adults aged 18 and above living in urban and rural areas.

“Field managers visit at least 15 percent of the respondents in the sample at their households to confirm the interviews (i.e. back-checking). After the interview data are electronically transmitted to the Ipsos server: an independent team then makes random phone calls to 20 percent of the respondents to confirm that the interviews were conducted with the said respondents,” says Ipsos on quality control measures of the research.

Main source of household income is the self-employment at 23 percent while agriculture comes second at 23 per cent. Private sector contributes 18 percent while public sector and ‘given money by others’ represent 7 and 6 percent respectively.

Retirement pension, casual labour and livestock 1, 2 and 3 percent in that order

By the 23 percent whose main source of household income is agriculture, cereals that is maize, wheat, rice form 66 percent while banana forms 1 percent.

The main sources of self-employment  are general goods kiosk, livestock marketing, foodstuff kiosk, hair dressing, carpentry, transport, formal private sector, and agriculture produce marketing