At this rate of fertility decline, Kenya is on course to achieving a replacement level fertility of 2.1 children per woman, which is associated with improved quality of life of the people and faster economic growth.
The proportion of children below age 15 years declined from 43 per cent in 2009 to 39 per cent of the total population in 2019.
Youth (18-34 years) in Kenya constitute about 29 per cent of the total population. The population of the youth grew from 3,201,192 in 1989 to 13,177,600 in 2019 and is projected to increase to 18,966,737 by 2035.
This youth bulge presents the country with great economic and social opportunities, but also enormous challenges that are causing anxiety.
The proportion of the population in the working age (15-64 years) increased from 53 in 2009 to 57 per cent in 2019, while the proportion of the population of the elderly aged 60 and above increased from 5 to 5.8 per cent, representing an increase from 1,943,715 in 2009 to 2,740,040 2019 people of the total population.
This segment of the population (older persons) requires social support in terms of cash transfer and medical care in order to protect them from shocks, reduce the use of negative coping strategies that undermine longer-term livelihood sustainability, and allow them to live longer.
The Constitution of Kenya obligates the government to take measures, including affirmative action programmes, to ensure that the youth access relevant education and training. The country has various policy responses, including making skills training and entrepreneurship development one of the priority areas in the National Youth and Development Policy (2019).
Kenya’s investment in health, education, economic and governance offers an excellent opportunity to harness the potential of young people.
The realisation of the demographic dividend in Kenya as envisaged in the Kenya Demographic Dividend Road Map 2020-2030 will depend on how fast we shall create jobs to employ our youth and turn the youth bulge into a blessing.
Writer is PS State Department of Economic Planning
