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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 10, No. 2
Publication Date: February 25, 2023
DOI:10.14738/assrj.102.13937.
Kosimbei, G. K., Omolo, J. O., Rono, G. J., Musyoka, P. K., & Onono, P. A. (2023). Coping Mechanisms to Income Loss by Girls and
Women During COVID-19: Evidence from Selected Informal Settlements in Kenya. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal,
10(2). 447-464.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Coping Mechanisms to Income Loss by Girls and Women During
COVID-19: Evidence from Selected Informal Settlements in Kenya
George K. Kosimbei
School of Economics, Kenyatta University, Kenya.
Jacob O. Omolo
School of Economics, Kenyatta University, Kenya.
Gladys J. Rono
School of Economics, Kenyatta University, Kenya.
Peter K. Musyoka
School of Economics, Kenyatta University, Kenya.
Perez A. Onono
School of Economics, Kenyatta University, Kenya.
Abstract
This study investigated the coping mechanisms that were adopted by girls and
women to mitigate the impacts of income loss due to COVID-19 pandemic. A mixed
methods approach involving use of desk review, cross-sectional survey, key
informant interviews and focus group discussions was employed. A logit regression
model was estimated using data collected from 402 randomly selected households
from Kibra, Mathare, Obunga and Nyawita informal settlements. Most households
in the informal settlements lost employment and incomes during the pandemic
leading to increased food insecurity. Girls and women bore a disproportionate
share of the burden of employment and income loss and could not access basic
necessities including food and house rent, suffered increased sexual harassment,
exploitation and abuse, and experienced increase in conflicts within households. To
mitigate the impacts of income loss, households reduced food intake or skipped
meals, made use of social support systems, begged from well-wishers. Use of risky
and negative coping mechanisms including early and forced marriage, as well as
transactional sex increased among adolescent girls, and young and older women.
The study recommends design and implementation of business and non-business
development services to engage women entrepreneurs in more stable income
generating activities for enhanced post COVID-19 recovery. Further, County
government departments for gender, youth and cultural services, and community
and faith-based organizations should undertake more sensitization programmes in
the informal settlements to influence attitudes of girls and young women on early
marriage and transactional sex. Government-based social protection programmes
for the vulnerable households should be made more open and transparent, free
from harm, manipulations and abuse. Beneficiary targeting of such programmes
should also be based on the differential vulnerabilities of households in each
location. Early response of the government and other institutions to cushion
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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 10, Issue 2, February-2023
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
vulnerable households during crises can significantly avert negative coping
mechanisms and mitigate rising and compounded vulnerabilities and inequalities
faced by girls and women.
Keywords: COVID-19; household vulnerability; loss of income; risky and negative coping
mechanisms
INTRODUCTION
Restricted movements during COVID–19 pandemic led to reduced economic activities in Kenya.
Many businesses closed down, triggering loss of employment, income and livelihoods for
households. The loss of livelihoods and incomes particularly by poor households exacerbated
poverty and food insecurity thereby heightening vulnerability of the households (Pinchoff,
Austrian, Rajshekhar, et al., 2021) [1]. Residents of informal settlements suffered
disproportionate burdens of losses in employment, income and livelihoods. According to the
Coalition for Women’s Economic Empowerment and Equality (CWEE, 2020) [2], women suffer
disproportionate and heightened vulnerabilities during crises due to their overrepresentation
in the informal sector. Pinchoff, Austrian, Rajshekhar, et al., (2021) also argued that the stress
and disruptions occasioned by COVID-19 had the potential to increase the risk of women and
girls engaging in negative coping mechanisms such as child, early or forced marriage and
exploitative sex. Other risky and negative coping strategies such as begging and hawking also
expose young girls to physical and sexual abuse, and unsafe sexual practices (Ouédraogo,
Ebrima, and Huang (2017)[3]. Other studies (Vinicius et al., 2011[4]; Amendah, Buigut and
Mohamed, 2014[5]) also find that while reduced eating and skipping of meals is a common
coping strategy to food and resource shortages, it leads to under-nutrition which is one of the
underlying causes of illness and death among women and young children in Africa (Burgess
and Danga, 2008)[6]. Eating less for extended periods of time compromises people’s health and
can have negative impacts on the development of children. In the long term, the development
and cognitive effects of under-nutrition among children negatively impact their future ability
to escape the poverty that they were born in (Gikandi, 2020) [7].
Child, early and forced marriage is harmful to girls and young women, and is often associated
with serious forms of violence against women and girls. The vices are an affront to human
dignity and well-being, and an impediment to sustainable development (Puri, 2016) [8]. Child
marriage particularly impedes progression of girls as it deprives them of a number of
opportunities that are important for improving their standards of living (Kapur, 2021) [9].
Transactional sex, among young women has been linked to poor sexual and reproductive health
outcomes. These include unplanned pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and sexually transmitted
infections (Choudhry, Ambresin, Nyakato & Agardh, 2015) [10]. The Sustainable Development
Goal (SDG) number five (5) targets elimination of all harmful practices, such as child, early and
forced marriage, all forms of violence against women and girls both in the public and private
spheres, including sexual and other types of exploitation (United Nations, 2015) [11].
A few studies (Xu, Delius and Pape, 2022[12]; Pinchoff, Austrian, Rajshekhar, et al., 2021; and
Tal and Geraldine, 2020) have been conducted to investigate the socio-economic effects of
COVID-19 and other crises on women and girls. The study by Tal and Geraldine (2020) [13]
was not based on actual experiences in the context of COVID – 19 and did not analyze the coping
mechanisms adopted by girls and women to mitigate effect of income losses due to the
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Kosimbei, G. K., Omolo, J. O., Rono, G. J., Musyoka, P. K., & Onono, P. A. (2023). Coping Mechanisms to Income Loss by Girls and Women During
COVID-19: Evidence from Selected Informal Settlements in Kenya. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(2). 447-464.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.102.13937
pandemic. Pinchoff, Austrian, Rajshekhar, et al. (2021) sampled prospective longitudinal cohort
of households with adolescent girls from five informal settlements in Nairobi which may not
represent the diverse range of characteristics of households in the informal settlements.
Though Xu, Delius and Pape (2022) analyzed the gender differences in household coping
strategies for COVID-19 in Kenya, it omitted use of risky and negative coping mechanisms by
girls and women to mitigate the income losses. Understanding the use of risky and negative
coping mechanisms adopted by girls and women to mitigate income losses due to COVID-19 is
important in assessing the actual vulnerabilities by the target population to the pandemic.
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
This study aimed at establishing the coping mechanisms that girls and women used to contend
with the challenges of loss of incomes due to COVID -19. The purpose was to find out whether
the pandemic had caused heightened vulnerabilities among women and girls through increased
use of risky and negative coping mechanisms.
METHODOLOGY
The study adopted a mixed methods approach combining desk review and cross-sectional
survey of households in four informal settlements. The study sites were Kibra and Mathare
informal settlements in Nairobi City County, and Obunga and Nyawita informal settlements in
Kisumu County. A sample of 400 households was drawn, and an equal allocation applied across
the study sites. Additional primary data was gathered through key informant interviews (KIIs)
and focus group discussions (FGDs). Women only, adolescent girls only, and mixed group FGDs
were conducted in each of the four study sites. The mixed group FGD comprised community
leaders, local administration, youth leaders, women leaders, and People Living with Disabilities
(PLWDs).
A total of 402 households were covered in the survey. One hundred (100) respondents each
were captured in Mathare, Obunga and Nyawita informal settlements while Kibra informal
settlement turned in 102 respondents. Fifteen (15) key informants were captured. They were
from the Ministry of Labour; Ministry of Health; Nairobi City County Government; Kisumu
County Government; National Gender and Equality Commission; United Nations Population
Fund; local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in the four informal settlements;
and African Medical Research Foundation (AMREF) Health Africa. The women only FGD had a
total of 39 respondents while the adolescent girls only FGD had 38 participants. The mixed
group FGD had 39 respondents, 60 percent of whom were females.
Descriptive and inferential analytical approaches were used in the analysis. Qualitative data
from Key informants and FGDs were transcribed according to questions and issues under
investigation to identify emerging similarities and trends in responses and enable conclusions.
The inferential analysis was based on logistic regression model:
P(y = 1|X|) = F(X
IB) =
e
X
IB
1 + e
XIB
Where y is a binary dummy variable representing the choice of a household in using a specific
coping strategy during COVID-19; X is a vector of household-specific independent variables.