Influence of Changing Family Transition on Gender Roles Among Chuka Community in Meru South District, Tharaka Nithi County

Abstract

The instability of family structure has become an increasingly salient part of people’s lives in Kenya. Lack of stable parenting coupled with strained relationships between parents and other family members as a result changing gender role have impacted negatively on family cohesion. This study investigated to investigate effects of family transitions on gender roles among the Chuka community.  The study was guided by social structural theory.  This study utilized the descriptive survey research design and the target population was 140 subjects comprising of 98 household heads in Magumoni division, 30 Church leaders, 6 women group leaders and 6 Chiefs. A total of 5 church leaders, 6 location chiefs, 6 women leaders and 98 households participated in this study. Questionnaires were used as the instruments of collecting data from all the respondents. A pilot study revealed a reliability coefficient of 0.7047 with the house hold head questionnaire, 0.7014 with chief’s questionnaire, 0.7020 for both church leaders and women leader’s questionnaire. The study concluded that the change in traditional family gender roles heavily impacts on gender household responsibilities and ultimately the cohesiveness of the family household. The study recommends counseling and other intervention programmes such as to mitigate the negative outcomes arising from the changes in the traditional family gender roles.