March 11th, 2025

Kenya’s youth under 18 now number around 22 million, making up 46% of the population. The opportunities and choices of young women and men as they enter adulthood will have a substantial influence in shaping the economy in the coming decades.

As young women transition into adulthood, their unique opportunities and choices shape their financial behaviours differently from men. Despite more young women completing secondary school compared to young men, a formal/informal divide in financial access persists. This contrasts with the general trend where higher education levels correlate with formal financial inclusion, indicating an additional gendered effect. By age 21, young men are more likely to have mobile money accounts, bank accounts, and formal savings and credit, while young women are more likely to rely on informal finance such as chamas and borrowing from family and friends. What lies behind this pattern?

Access to technology influences the financial decisions of young men and women. More young men own phones, including smartphones, and use the internet. Technology access and usage are often tied to income. Median income for young men aged 21 is KShs. 9000,  while for young women, it is KShs. 6000. By their mid to late twenties, men are earning twice as much as women.

Conversely, by age 21, 49% of young women have children compared to only 11% of young men, which again influences their financial choices. Informal finance, embedded in social networks, may better support young women in managing households and young families. Just as men seek to acquire material assets and leverage them to access finance, the social assets women develop from a young age may enable them to be more financially resilient as adults responsible for managing households and earning income.

FinAccess 2024 reveals that 33% of young women aged 18 have finished secondary school compared to only 20% of young men. With a growing gender reversal in secondary school completion, new opportunities may arise for young women, shaping the choices they make. How will Kenya’s financial sector evolve to meet the needs of a new generation of educated young women coming of age? This includes considering ways to better leverage the social networks women invest in to improve their access to both formal and informal finance.

Click here to download the “Youth cohort analysis from FinAccess” slide deck

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