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  • Title: Seasonal variations in labor-force activity and intrahousehold substitution of labor in rural Kenya.
    Author: Mott FL, Shapiro D.
    Journal: J Dev Areas; 1984 Jul; 18(4):449-63. PubMed ID: 12339847.
    Abstract:
    In rural Kenya where traditional agriculture is dominant, about half of the men are employed for pay or profit, although younger men are more likely to be employed for pay than older men. In contrast, women are overwhelmingly employed on agricultural holdings only. For women, there is little variety by age. A rural Kenyan longitudinal labor force survey, carried out in 1977-1978, showed that rural employment levels were clearly sensitive to seasonal variations in demand for agricultural labor and indicated a lot of substitution of labor within households. Employment on a holding usually means subsistence agriculture. Agricultural work varies seasonally and by crop, which creates fluctuations in the demand for agricultural labor. School vacations temporarily increase the time that households can devote to employment. Seasonal variation in labor force activity happens most often among youth and corresponds to school vacations. Youth labor is substituted for adult labor because as youth labor rates rise, adult rates decline a little. This relationship is stronger for men than for women. While labor substitution occurs between youth and other age groups, there are also periods of peak demand where employment rises for all age groups. A strong inverse relationship exists between the % of rural men temporarily absent from home and the employment rate of rural men at home. Prime-age men, the group most likely to be employed for pay, can to some extent substitute paid employment for holding employment in slack agricultural seasons and vice versa. These data show the importance of supply and demand in determining labor force size and composition in rural Kenya. Specifically, school holiday periods show sharply increased labor force activity for all groups.
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