Access to employment in Kenya: the voices of persons with disabilities
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Date
2016-06-22
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
De Gruyter
Abstract
Introduction: Unemployment is one of the major challenges facing persons with disabilities worldwide. Persons
with disabilities experience significantly high rates of
unemployment compared with the general population,
and are often employed in low-paid jobs. This could indicate a missing link in identifying employment opportunities and impeding factors to the opportunities. This
study examined access to employment opportunities for
persons with disabilities in the Nairobi County in Kenya.
Method: An exploratory study design, using qualitative methods, was conducted with three categories of
persons with disabilities: the physically disabled, the
visually impaired, and the hearing impaired. A convenient sampling was used to recruit 30 participants from five
constituencies in Embakasi in the Nairobi County.
Findings: The study found that access to employment for
persons with disabilities in the study area was limited.
Factors responsible for the high unemployment include
inaccessible information on employment, negative attitudes, inaccessible physical environment, low educational attainment of persons with disabilities, and ineffective legislation on employment.
Conclusion: The lack of employment opportunities for
persons with disabilities in Kenya suggests that poverty
reduction among persons with disabilities will be difficult.
Therefore, efforts should be made through implementation of effective policies to remove barriers hindering access to employment for persons with disabilities in
Kenya
Description
Published in Int J Disabil Hum Dev 2017; 16(1): 77–87
Keywords
attitude, employment, Kenya, legislation, persons with disabilities
Citation
Published in Int J Disabil Hum Dev 2017; 16(1): 77–87