Effect of Employment Opportunities Created Under the National Hygiene Programme on the Socio-Economic Well-Being of Youth in Urban Informal Settlements in Nairobi County, Kenya
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47604/jpid.3553Keywords:
Employment Opportunities, Socio-Economic Well-Being, Youth Empowerment, Urban Informal Settlements, National Hygiene Programme, KenyaAbstract
Purpose: Youth unemployment still remains a major socio-economic problem in Kenya especially in the urban informal settlements whereby absence of access to formal employment contributes to the issue of poverty and social exclusion. To this the Government of Kenya has come up with National Hygiene Programme (NHP), alias Kazi Mtaani, as a form of temporary employment and better living standards by way of public hygiene programs. This paper has discussed how available jobs in the form of the National Hygiene Programme have an impact on the socio-economic well-being of the young people in the informal settlements within the Nairobi County.
Methodology: The research was informed by the theory of spatial mismatch and adopted the descriptive survey design that involved 6,046 youths involved in the programme. A stratified random of 375 participants were chosen and the data were gathered through the structured questionnaires. The SPSS was used to analyze the data, both through descriptive and inferential statistics, such as correlation and regression analysis.
Results: The results showed that there was a significant positive correlation between opportunities of employment and socio-economic well-being which was strong and significant (r = 0.990, p < 0.01). Regression findings also established that the employment opportunities had a significant influence in predicting the well-being of youth (b = 4.313, p = 0.000). It was shown that the engagement in the programme had increased the stability of youth income and decreased dependency and facilitated the integration of communities even though it lacked any long-term effects.
Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The research suggests the institutionalization of sustainable youth employment patterns that incorporate both intertemporal provisions of short-term temporary work with skill-building and entrepreneurship training along with long-term employability options. These strategies are capable of increasing the resilience of the youth, encouraging self-reliance, and facilitating inclusive urbanization.
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