Infotrak Research and Consulting on Monday, January 22 revealed eight strategies Kenyans have implemented to cope with the harsh economic times.
The survey conducted in December 2023 indicate that a majority of Kenyans are either in a severe financial distress or struggling to make ends meet.
To survive, Kenyans adopted nine strategies which verified across different countries.
Infotrak said 45% are engaged in a side hustle to supplement their income while 41% have reduced their expenditure on non-essential items.
18% have taken loans to fill the gaps while 16% are utilizing community resources like food banks and shelters.
Another 15% relies on borrowing money from friends and family while 8% are seeking financial assistance and counselling.
Other 3% of Kenyans depend on ration, 4% use credit cards while 1% have reduced the number of meals per day.
The report showed that majority of the men have side hustles (47%) and have cutdown spending non-basic things (44%).
Women take more loans (21%) to navigate the economic hardship compared to their male counterparts (15%).
Same case was seen in borrowing from friends and family where women led with 18% against men with 12%.
Bothe genders tied on seeking financial counseling (8%) and reducing their number of meals per day (1%).
Impacts Economic Hardships-Infotrak
The high cost of living has hard various impacts on Kenyans including increased stress and anxiety which stood at 48%.
Men were the most affected at 49% compared to women 47%.
It also caused strain on personal relationships (32%), led to physical health issues (21%) and negatively mental health (18%).
2% of Kenyans experienced stagnation in personal development while 1% used all their savings due to the economic hardships.
Another 0.2% Kenyans were unable to cater for the needs of the family including paying school fees and providing proper meals.
However, 0.3% experienced no stress at all despite the high cost of living.
Also Read: Ruto Leading the Country in Wrong Direction – Infotrak Poll
Dealing with High Cost of Living
Family and friends (48%) and government assistance programs (24%) are the most helpful resources and support systems to deal with the economic hardships.
Others include seeking help from non-profit organizations (19%), online financial management resources (12%) and employer assistance programs (10%).
Some 8% of Kenyans do not have support systems while 1% have resorted to selling their properties to survive.
Also Read: Kenya Ranked 2nd Leading Market in Africa
Where Kenyans Need Support
Among the areas the citizens would need more support to cope with the hardships include reduction of the high cost of living (26%), creation of employment opportunities (13%), reduction of fuel prices (13%), reduction of education costs (12%) and reduction of the high taxation (12%).
Kenyans also need support to the agricultural sector (6%) and provision of loans to citizens on low rates.
Other notable areas were ensuring food security (3%), improved healthcare (2%), provision of enough security countrywide (2%), reduction of the cost of doing business (2%), poverty reduction (1%) and disaster management (1%).
