Influence of Domestic Worker Characteristics on Household Wellness in Kisumu Central Sub-county in Kisumu County, Kenya

Abstract

Kenyan urban centers have recently recorded an influx of middle and upper white-collar workers resulting in a corresponding increase in the demand for domestic workers to support their household chores. The preparedness and capacity of domestic workers to ably carry out their responsibility largely hinges on their socio-demographic characteristics, as indicated by their level of awareness and competencies regarding their roles and responsibilities. The present study sought to establish the influence of training as one of the key factors or traits that might affect their ability to do their work and the wellness or welfare of the households in which they work. Using a descriptive research design, quantitative data from questionnaires was analyzed by descriptive statistics, while qualitative data was analyzed by thematic content analysis. From the population of households with a total of 200 domestic workers in Kisumu Central sub-county, a sample of 132 workers and 44 domestic worker's employers was obtained through snow balling sampling. Primarily research tools such as questionnaires and interview schedules were used to obtain quantitative and qualitative data respectively. Split-half analysis was used to ascertain the reliability of the questionnaire items, while validity was tested using expert judgment of the supervisors. The study found out that most of domestic workers lacked first aid training, hence could not adequately and promptly respond to emergencies. Besides, most of the domestic workers in Kisumu Central Sub County had not been trained on first aid skills and that majority of them had limited education. Most workers were also not trained on how to handle or operate some of the sophisticated and modern household equipment and as such concluded that, poor education and training on household activities hurts good service delivery of the workers. The study recommends that employers should work in collaboration with the government through the ministry of labour and social development to offer training programs that touches on first aid skills and household activities as this will enhance their service delivery and household wellness. There should be well organized recruitment bureaus for the domestic workers that offer good job training to domestic workers before they are released into the market. The government through the ministry of education should strengthen adult education programs and make them accessible to these members of the society. Further research should be carried out on influence of household working conditions, remuneration and incentives on service delivery of the domestic workers, that in turn affects household wellness.