# The 3 a.m. Phone Call: A Gendered Perspective on the Working Conditions of Kenyan Online Writers

*Elvis Melia, Elizabeth Muthoni Wahu, Anne Gichuku, Peninah Murimi, Otto Kässi · GIGA Working Paper No. 330, German Institute for Global and Area Studies · Working paper · April 2023*

Canonical: https://meliacred.com/solutions/the-3-am-phone-call-kenyan-online-writers-2023

**Citation:** Melia, E., Wahu, E. M., Gichuku, A., Murimi, P., & Kässi, O. (2023). The 3 a.m. phone call: A gendered perspective on the working conditions of Kenyan online writers (GIGA Working Paper No. 330). German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA).

**Publisher's page:** https://www.giga-hamburg.de/tracked/assets/media/jlhgjubhhjuo/4sWrGKBW1YbIxHhgGwGfSm/faa0e5d2a2c03798a22b14650984f7cb/Study_2_MeliaEtAl_GenderPlatformWorkKenya_final.pdf

**PDF:** https://www.giga-hamburg.de/tracked/assets/media/jlhgjubhhjuo/4sWrGKBW1YbIxHhgGwGfSm/faa0e5d2a2c03798a22b14650984f7cb/Study_2_MeliaEtAl_GenderPlatformWorkKenya_final.pdf

## Summary

Phone surveys of Kenyan online platform workers in 2018 and 2023 show that men outnumber women by about four to one. Two factors explain the gap: the low expectations men hold of women's ability to deliver, and the short-notice night work with tight deadlines that the platforms demand. This 'manager-controlled flexibility' is hard to meet for women who also carry household and care work. The pattern differs by subsector: academic writing, where the demands are highest, has fewer women than transcription.

**Topics:** online work, Kenya, platform work, working conditions

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