Uasin Gishu | Kenya Inequalities (2024)

Population

Uasin Gishu County has a child rich population structure where 0-14 year olds constitute 42% of the total population. However, the county is at the onset of a fertility decline as 42% of households have 0-3 household members and 37.9% of households have 4-6 members.

Employment

The 2009 population and housing census covered in brief the labour status as tabulated below. The main variable of interest for inequality discussed in the text is work for pay by level of education. The other variables, notably family business, family agricultural holdings, intern/volunteer, retired/homemaker, fulltime student, incapacitated and no work are tabulated and presented in the annex table 44.3 up to ward level.

Table 44: Overall Employment by Education levels inUasin Gishu County

In Uasin-Gishu County, 28% of the residents with no formal education, 23% of those with a primary education and 32% for those with a secondary level of education or above are working for pay. Work for pay is highest in Nairobi at 49% and this is 17 percentage points above the level in Uasin-Gishu for those with secondary or above level of education.

Gini Coefficient

In this report, the Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of consumption expenditure among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Gini index of '0' represents perfect equality, while an index of '1' implies perfect inequality. Uasin Gishu County’s Gini index is 0.370 compared with Turkana County, which has the least inequality nationally (0.283).

Education

A total of 29% of Uasin Gishu County residents have a secondary level of education or above. Kapseret constituency has the highest share of residents with a secondary level of education or above at 33%. This is 12 percentage points above Soy constituency, which has the lowest share of residents with a secondary level of education or above. Kapseret constituency is 4 percentage points above the county average. Racecourse ward has the highest share of residents with a secondary level of education or above at 51%.This is three times Segero/Barsombe ward, which has the lowest share of residents with a secondary level of education or above. Racecourse ward is 22 percentage points above the county average.

A total of 54% of Uasin Gishu County residents have a primary level of education only. Soy constituency has the highest share of residents with a primary level of education only at 60%. This is 9 percentage points above Kapseret constituency, which has the lowest share of residents with primary only. Soy constituency is 6 percentage points above the county average. Ngenyilel ward has the highest share of residents with a primary level of education only at 63%. This is almost twice Racecourse ward, which has the lowest share of residents with a primary level of education only. Ngenyilel ward is 9 percentage points above the county average.

A total of 17% of Uasin Gishu County residents have no formal education. Soy constituency has the highest share of residents with no formal education at 19%. This is 4 percentage points above Moiben constituency, which has the lowest share of residents with no formal education. Soy constituency is 2 percentage points above the county average. Segero/Barsombe ward has the highest percentage of residents with no formal education at 21%. This is almost twice Racecourse ward, which has the lowest percentage of residents with no formal education. Segero/Barsombe ward is 4 percentage points above the county average.

Energy » Cooking Fuel

Only 5% of residents in Uasin Gishu County use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and 7% use paraffin. 55% use firewood and 32% use charcoal. Firewood is the most common cooking fuel by gender with 53% in male headed households and 58% in female headed households.

Soy constituency has the highest level of firewood use in Uasin Gishu County at 84%.This is twice Kapseret constituency, which has the lowest share at 36%. Soy constituency is about 29 percentage points above the county average. Segero/Barsombe ward has the highest level of firewood use in Uasin Gishu County at 97%.This is 32 times Huruma ward, which has the lowest share. Segero/Barsombe ward is 42 percentage points above the county average.

Kapseret constituency has the highest level of charcoal use in Uasin Gishu County at 47%.This is four times Soy constituency, which has the lowest share. Kapseret constituency is 15 percentage points above the county average. Langas ward has the highest level of charcoal use in Uasin Gishu County at 71%.This is 24 times Segero/Barsombe ward, which has the lowest share. Langas ward is 39 percentage points above the county average.

Energy » Lighting

A total of 28% of residents in Uasin Gishu County use electricity as their main source of lighting. A further 44% use lanterns, and 25% use tin lamps. Less than 1% use fuel wood. There is no gender differential in use of electricity with both male and female headed households at 28% in each.

Turbo constituency has the highest level of electricity use at 38%.That is almost four times Soy constituency, which has the lowest level of electricity use. Turbo constituency is 10 percentage points above the county average. Huruma ward has the highest level of electricity use at 63%.That is 62 percentage points above Segero/Barsombe ward, which has the lowest level of electricity use. Huruma ward is 35 percentage points above the county average.

Housing » Flooring

In Uasin Gishu County, 46% of residents have homes with cement floors, while 51% has earth floors. 1% has wood and 2% have tile floors. Kapseret constituency has the highest share of cement floors at 56%.That is twice Soy constituency, which has the lowest share of cement floors. Kapseret constituency is 10 percentage points above the county average. Two wards, Kipkenyo and Huruma, have the highest share of cement floors at 76% each. That is five times Ngenyilel ward, which has the lowest share of cement floors. Kipkenyo and Huruma ward is 30 percentage points above the county average.

Housing » Roofing

In Uasin Gishu County, 1% of residents have homes with concrete roofs, while 84% have corrugated iron sheet roofs. Grass and makuti roofs constitute 8% of homes, and less than 1% has mud/dung roofs.

Kapseret constituency has the highest share of corrugated iron sheet roofs at 92%.That is 19 percentage points above Ainabkoi constituency, which has the lowest share of corrugated iron sheet roofs. Kapseret constituency is 8 percentage points above the county average. Langas ward has the highest share of corrugated iron sheet roofs at 97%.That is 30 percentage points above Kapsoya ward, which has the lowest share of corrugated iron sheet roofs. Langas ward is 13 percentage points above the county average.

Soy constituency has the highest share of grass/makuti roofs at 12%.That is four times Kapseret constituency, which has the lowest share of grass/makuti roofs. Soy constituency is 4 percentage points above the county average. Karuna/Meibeki ward has the highest share of grass/makuti roofs at 23%. This is 23 percentage points above Langas ward, which has no share. Karuna/Meibeki ward is 15 percentage points above the county average.

Housing » Walls

In Uasin Gishu County, 31% of homes have either brick or stone walls. 58% of homes have mud/wood or mud/cement walls. 7% have wood walls. 3% have corrugated iron walls. Less than 1% has grass/thatched walls. 2% have tin or other walls.

Turbo constituency has the highest share of brick/stone walls at 40%.That is twice Soy constituency, which has the lowest share of brick/stone walls. Turbo constituency is 9 percentage points above the county average. Kipkenyo ward has the highest share of brick/stone walls at 61%.That is 12 times Tarakwa ward has the lowest share of brick/stone walls. Kipkenyo ward is 30 percentage points above the county average.

Soy constituency has the highest share of mud with wood/cement walls at 81%.That is almost twice Ainabkoi constituency, which has the lowest share of mud with wood/cement. Soy constituency is 23 percentage points above the county average. Segero/Barsombe ward has the highest share of mud with wood/cement walls at 93%.That is almost four times Kipkenyo ward, which has the lowest share of mud with wood/cement walls. Segero/Barsombe ward is 35 percentage points above the county average.

Water

Improved sources of water comprise protected springs, protected wells, boreholes, piped water into dwellings, collected piped and rain water; while unimproved sources include ponds, dams, lake, stream/river, unprotected springs, unprotected wells, jabia, water vendors and other.

In Uasin Gishu County, 74% of residents use improved sources of water, with the rest relying on unimproved sources. There is no gender differential in use of improved sources with both male and female headed households at 74% each.

Kapseret constituency has the highest share of residents using improved sources of water at 84%.That is 18 percentage points above Soy constituency, which has the lowest share using improved sources of water. Kapseret constituency is 10 percentage points above the county average. Two wards, Kapsaos and Huruma, have the highest share of residents using improved sources of water at 98% each. That is thrice Karuna/Meibeki ward, which has the lowest share using improved sources of water. Kapsaos and Huruma ward is 24 percentage points above the county average.

Sanitation

A total of 78% of residents in Uasin Gishu County use improved sanitation, while the rest use unimproved sanitation. Use of improved sanitation is equal by gender with 78% of male headed households and 77% of female headed households.

Soy constituency has the highest share of residents using improved sanitation at 86%.That is 26 percentage points above Kesses constituency, which has the lowest share using improved sanitation. Soy constituency is 8 percentage points above the county average. Langas ward has the highest share of residents using improved sanitation at 92%.That is twice Megun ward, which has the lowest share using improved sanitation. Langas ward is 14 percentage points above the county average.