Report shows surge in number of homes headed by divorcees in Kenya

A report has revealed that at least one in every 18 households in the country is headed by a divorced/separated person.

According to the report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), 5.5 percent of the country’s 12 million households by 2019 were headed by divorcees or persons who had separated with their spouses.

The report showed that over the past decade, divorce and separation rates have grown.

“Nationally, most of the male heads with children are either widowed or divorced/separated. However, for female heads with children, there is no significant difference among the various marital status,” the report stated.

The report showed that among the 7.4 million male-headed households in the country, 256,074 are headed by men who have been divorced or separated.

Out of the 4,579,574 households headed by women by 2019, 405,515 were headed by women who have been divorced or separated with their spouses.

The survey also revealed that out of the 661,628 divorcees in the country by 2019, 40.8 percent resulted to living alone.

Among the 256,074 cluster of divorced/separated men, those who ended up living alone formed the largest number at 70.6 percent while 17.4 percent ended up staying with their children.

Additionally, among 405,515 female headed divorced/separated households, 22 percent lived alone, 47.7 percent lived with their children and 22.8 percent with relatives.