Migori, Siaya, Homa Bay, Kisumu and Busia have highest number of young people living without parents.
The five counties- Migori, Siaya, Homa Bay, Kisumu and Busia- bordering Lake Victoria have the highest number of young orphans nationwide, a new survey showed-- an indication of the socio-economic burden facing guardians in the region.
The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) said most orphans aged 0-14 years were reported in Migori (18.7 per cent), Siaya (12.7 per cent), Homa Bay (12.5 per cent) and Kisumu (12.1 per cent).
This trend is replicated even within a wider national category of orphans aged up to 17 years. Counties with high number were Migori (21.4 per cent), Siaya (16 per cent), Homa Bay (15 per cent) and Turkana (12.6 per cent) while Bomet had the lowest proportion at 4.6 per cent.
Nationally, the survey shows that 8.4 per cent of children were orphans. The findings show that there were more orphans in rural areas (8.7 per cent) than in urban areas (7.7 per cent).
Overall, 6.8 per cent of children below 15 years were orphans. The proportion of orphans aged 0-14 years was higher in rural areas than in urban areas as well.
The young orphanhood in Migori, Siaya, Homa Bay and Busia also comes with high levels of child dependency ratios.
Child dependency ratio is the number of children aged below 15 years relative to the total number of persons aged 15-64 years. A higher age dependency ratio implies a greater burden, especially in counties with a very young or aging population.
Data by the KNBS recorded relatively high child dependency rations in Migori (93.8 per cent), Siaya (86.5 per cent), Homa Bay (105.3 per cent) and Busia (93.1 per cent).
The child dependency ratios in the four counties outpace the national average of 74.7 per cent.
Rural areas recorded a higher dependency ratio of 87.4 per cent compared to that of 56.2 per cent for urban.
Away from orphanhood, KNBS analysis by living arrangement shows that more than half (60 per cent) of the children aged below 15 years in Kenya resided with both parents.
The proportion of children living with both parents was higher among urban residents (65.6 per cent) compared to that among rural dwellers (57.5 per cent). The proportion of those living with mothers, but fathers are alive was 21.6 per cent.
Further, the proportion of children living with neither of the parents, suggesting that they live with a “guardian” or on their own was 8.6 per cent.
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Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
