Child Sensitive Snapshot
Child poverty in Kenya
Highlights
Children represent 42 per cent of Kenya’s population and are critical to the country’s development of human capital. However, child poverty remains a persistent challenge, particularly in rural and arid and semi-arid (ASAL) areas, where access to quality education, healthcare, nutrition, and basic services is limited. In 2022, 42.4 per cent of children lived in poverty, while 47.7 per cent experienced multidimensional poverty, highlighting continued gaps in essential services such as education, health, water, and sanitation (KNBS, 2024). Rural and ASAL regions are the most deprived, with a disproportionately high number of children living in poverty and experiencing multiple deprivations. Although child mortality fell significantly from 115 to 41 deaths per 1,000 live births between 2003 and 2022, persistent issues such as child stunting (18 per cent) and 2.5 million out-of-school children, point to systemic challenges that require more effective public investment and equitable fiscal policies.
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