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Gender earnings gap among the youth in Malawi

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  • Sung‐Bou Kim

Abstract

While young women's engagement in economic activities is an essential component of development, gender gaps are still commonly observed worldwide and especially in developing countries like Malawi. This study introduces recent data to provide new evidence for a sub‐Saharan country that has yet been closely examined. Using the International Labour Organization's School‐to‐Work Transition Survey (ILO SWTS) individual‐level data, I examine the gender earnings gap among the youth in Malawi by conducting Mincer earnings regressions with Heckman selection correction and applying Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition methods. I find that young women in Malawi earn significantly less than young men and that women are significantly less likely to engage in income‐generating work activities. Also, substantial unadjusted gender earnings difference in Malawi is overwhelmingly due to differences in returns. Moreover, detailed decomposition results show that gender differences in work‐related individual characteristics and firm characteristics also contribute to the gender earnings gap. The results suggest that any effort to reduce the gender earnings gap should involve improved access to education as well as better workplaces for women.

Suggested Citation

  • Sung‐Bou Kim, 2020. "Gender earnings gap among the youth in Malawi," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 32(2), pages 176-187, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:afrdev:v:32:y:2020:i:2:p:176-187
    DOI: 10.1111/1467-8268.12426
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    Cited by:

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    3. Melain Modeste Senou & Julius Manda, 2022. "Access to finance and rural youth entrepreneurship in Benin: Is there a gender gap?," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 34(1), pages 29-41, March.
    4. Martin Mulwa & Timothy Gichana, 2020. "Does education reduce gender differentials in labor market participation? A Kenyan perspective," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 32(3), pages 446-458, September.
    5. Livini Donath & Oliver Morrissey & Trudy Owens, 2021. "Pay period and the distributional effect of education on earnings: Evidence from recentered influence function," Discussion Papers 2021-02, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
    6. Federico Favata & Julián Leone & Jorge Lo Cascio, 2021. "Youth employment in Argentina: first effect of the pandemic," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4465, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    7. Ebo Botchway & Kofi Fred Asiedu, 2020. "Ownership type and earnings gap decomposition: Evidence from the Ghanaian labor market," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 32(4), pages 619-631, December.

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