Kenyan women are more open to registering their property jointly with their husbands or partners than their male counterparts, data shows.
The just released Kenya Demographic and Health Survey indicates that 51 per cent of married men or those living with their partners have registered their houses only under their name while 41.5 per cent have registered their land as sole owners.
The data shows that only 18.4 per cent of men have their house registered jointly with their spouse.
On the flip side, only 2.5 per cent of married women or those living with their partners have registered their houses under their names while 49.1 per cent have it registered as joint property with their partners.
The data released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that only 1.6 per cent of married women or those living with their partners have their own land only under their name while 34.9 per cent have it jointly registered with their spouse.
The revelation points to a high level of skepticism among Kenyan men when it comes to joint property ownership with their spouses or partners.
It may serve to indicate that women are more trusting than their male counterparts when in marriage or living with their partners.
The data which covered 2022 was compiled based on responses from women aged between 15–49 and men aged between 15–54.
The sample size included 17,822 married women or those living with their spouses, 10,438 unmarried women, 908 widows and 2,989 divorced or separated women total 32,156 responders.
Some 14,453 men took part in the survey including 6,257 married or living with their partners, 6,576 unmarried men, 49 widowers and 771 divorcees or those separated from their partners.
"Five per cent of women report owning a house alone, while 28 per cent own a house jointly with their husband and/or with someone else," the report said.
It added that 25 per cent of women own agricultural land, three per cent own land alone, and 20 per cent own land jointly with their spouse or partner alone.
The report said among women who own a house, only 9 per cent have a title deed or any other government-recognised document with their name on it; 73 per cent do not have a title deed or any other government-recognised document.
"House ownership increases with age and is highest among women age 45–49 (63%). Women in rural areas (44%) are more likely to own a house than women in urban areas (17%), although women in urban areas are much more likely to have a title deed for the house they own than women in rural areas." the report said.
