A Tesco store in London. Although Kenyans working in the UK earn better salaries than their counterparts back home, the high cost of living abroad evens out the income differences. Photo/REUTERS
Nearly one-third of Kenyans working in UK earn higher salaries than the median annual income in Britain, a new report has shown, exposing a wide wage gap for locals employed in similar industries-—which is however evened out by the high cost of living in London.
About 32 per cent of Kenyans working in London and areas surrounding the city earn between 21,000 and 30,000 pounds (Sh2.6m to Sh3.8 million) every year, which translates to monthly incomes of between Sh218,750 and Sh312,500, according to the study by the International Organisation of Migration.
The median annual UK salary for a full-time employee stood at 25,428 pounds (Sh3.2 million) in 2009 according to data from Office of National Statistics in UK.
The average annual wage per employee in Kenya’s private and public sectors for the same period stood at Sh152,216 and Sh147,617 respectively or Sh12,685 and Sh12,301 monthly according to the Economic Survey 2010.
Analysts said that even though the standard of living in London was higher than in Nairobi, generally Kenyans earning more than the median annual UK salary of 25,428 pounds a year for a full-time employee were faring well.
“The UK has a more efficient wage formation system, stronger unions and more efficient means of enforcing minimum wages,” Jacob Omollo, a labour economist at the Institute of Policy Analysis and Research (Ipar) said.
“The level of automation and productivity is much higher in the UK and it would be difficult to effectively compare salary levels in both countries,” he added.
According to the report, approximately 300,000 Kenyans live in the UK, with 80 per cent of them or 240,000 living in London and its surroundings.
About 62 per cent of the 78 Kenyans sampled in the study had bachelors or masters degrees.
The vast majority indicated that they were in the UK legally, 32 per cent with permanent residency, 24 per cent holding UK citizenship, 14 and 12 per cent on work and student permits respectively.
Despite their qualifications, over 50 per cent had worked in health and social work while the remaining had worked in transport, storage and communications, education and financial intermediation.
Mr Omollo said the low levels of the average wage earnings per employee in Kenya’s private and public sectors were also largely influenced by the disparity between the few individuals earning very high salaries and majority of Kenyans especially in the informal sector earning very low salaries.
“Whether migrants living in Kenya are ultimately better off, will hinge on how much value individuals’ assign to things such as climate,” said Yvette Babb, a researcher with Johannesburg based Standard Bank. “Personally, I would choose the Kenya sunshine over the British grey sky, any day, but whether I would choose the convenience of the British public transport system or state security services above those of Kenya is another matter,” she added.
John Mutua of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) said that even though the average wage earnings per employee in the private and public sectors in Kenya were very low, one had to take into consideration the purchasing power parity and standard of living to come up with an accurate comparison.
“Obviously the standards of living in Kenya are lower than the standards of living in London which is one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in,” he said.
The study shows that most Kenyans migrate in search of a better life, with 31 per cent saying they migrated in search of job opportunities, 25 per cent for studies and a further 12 per cent for employment reasons.
“Most respondents indicated a positive view of their migration with 61.5 per cent stating they had achieved their objective of migrating to the UK and 25.6 per cent saying they had not,” says the report dated October 2010.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in a survey on the quality of life across the globe last year showed that 88 per cent of individuals in the UK were satisfied with their standard of living compared to 25 per cent of individuals in Kenya.
Higher number
The UNDP also said that compared to Kenya, a higher number of UK residents are satisfied with their personal health and jobs, overall life satisfaction being 7.4 in the UK compared to 3.7 in Kenya, zero being least satisfied and 10 being most satisfied.
Kenya was ranked 128 under low human development countries in the list of inequality out of the total 169 countries surveyed indicating that growth attained in the past five years had ended up generally benefiting the rich while the UK was ranked 26 under high human development countries.
The UK IOM survey notes that while the majority of migrants to the UK want to come back home, the availability and capacity to secure well paid jobs, fear of stigma if they do not return with enough money as well as good and affordable schools to send their children are factors that are hindering their return.
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