A report by the Kenya Christian Professionals Forum (KMCF) shows that more women with no education are in polygamous unions as compared to men.
According to an Analytical Report on Population Projections, more women in rural areas were in polygamous relationships than men.
“A higher proportion of women (47.4%) with no education compared to men (37.2%) are in polygamous unions,” read part of the report.
The Report also revealed that both men and women in rural areas were more likely to be polygamous compared to those in urban areas.
Further, while comparing the level of education, the report stated that more men with higher level of education than women were in a polygamous union.
Notably, the proportion of both polygamous men and women decreased with the level of education.
The Kenya Christian Professionalism Forum (KCMF) attributed the difference to the effect of schooling, noting that staying longer in school decreases the chances of early marriages.
“Counties with the highest prevalence of polygamous marriages are mostly those in the ASAL areas; Mandera, West Pokot and Samburu whereas the lowest prevalence is in Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Kiambu and Murang’a,” read the report in part.
Sexual Partners
Also, the report showed that the Kenyan men have an average of seven sexual partners whereas women have 2 sexual partners in their lifetime.
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Notably, more than half of the men aged 20-24 have engaged in sexual activities with persons who neither live with them nor are their spouses as per the report.
Demographically, wealthier, educated men and women and those living in urban areas reported having more than 2 sexual partners in the past year.
Unmarried Preferences
Subsequently, the report indicated that there were more unmarried women in urban areas compare to those in rural areas.
However, more unmarried men were in rural areas in comparison to their urban counterparts as their percentage’s ranged at 50.2% and 44% respectively.
The number of people who preferred the “never married” option in the research is higher in urban areas than rural.
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“Counties with the highest percentage of never married are Uasin Gishu (45.0%), Nandi (44.5%) and Nairobi City (43.5%). Those with the lowest are Tana River and Kirinyaga at 31.5% and 32.55% respectively,” read the statement in part.
Divorce and Separation
The data further showed that divorce and separation was higher in urban areas compared to rural areas.
“Counties with the highest number of women divorced and separated are Kirinyaga (7.5%), Lamu (7.2%), Kiambu (6.2%) and Mombasa (6.0%),” the report revealed.
Generally, the proportion of widowed men was smaller compared to that of women. This was attributed to men being more likely to remarry after death of a spouse or divorce compared with women.
Further, widows were more in rural areas than urban areas.
“Widowed women are higher in Western and Nyanza regions compared to other regions,” the report further states.
Siaya County was leading with the percentage of widows at 13.9%, followed by Homabay at 11.55, Vihiga at 11.3% and Kisumu at 10.1%.
In addition, the report indicated that the proportion of married people had been declining since 1989.
Similarly, the 2019 Census quoted that all age groups recorded a decline in the proportion of marriage except the males in the adolescent group 15 -19 years.