Editing Malawi (section)

== Women in Malawi ==
[[File:Making candles in Malawi.jpg|thumb|upright|Mbawemi Women's group in Malawi learning how to make beeswax into candles]]
The ratio of male to female students shows women's access to schooling starts on a par with men's.<ref name=":02">{{cite web|url=https://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1031&context=monitoring_learning|title=Girls' Primary and Secondary Education in Malawi: Sector Review|last1=Robertson|first1=Sally|last2=Cassity|first2=Elizabeth|date=28 July 2017|website=The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)|last3=Kunkwenzu|first3=Esthery}}</ref> Female students in Malawi see consistent declines as age increases.<ref name=":02" /> The life expectancy of women was approximately 58 in 2010, and 66 in 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN?end=2017&locations=MW&start=2010|title=Life expectancy at birth, total (years) – Malawi|website=data.worldbank.org|access-date=26 March 2020}}</ref> The maternal mortality rate in Malawi is particularly low compared with countries at similar levels of development.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hdr.undp.org/sites/all/themes/hdr_theme/country-notes/MWI.pdf|title=Inequalities in Human Development in the 21st Century: Malawi|date=2019|website=Human Development Report 2019}}</ref>

The inheritance rights in Malawi are equal by gender for children and for surviving spouses.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/939291535658711278/pdf/WPS8573.pdf|title=Gender Gaps in Property Ownership in Sub-Saharan Africa|last1=Gaddis|first1=Isis|last2=Lahoti|first2=Rahul|date=August 2018|website=World Bank Group|last3=Li|first3=Wenjie}}</ref> A higher percentage of the male population is employed, and the female population has a higher total employed population and a very similar unemployment rate.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nsomalawi.mw/images/stories/data_on_line/demography/Labour%20Force/Labour%20Force%20Survey%202013/Malawi%20Labour%20Force%20Surver%202013%20Report.pdf|title=Malawi Labour Force Survey|date=April 2014|website=National Statistical Office|access-date=13 May 2021|archive-date=13 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513190542/http://www.nsomalawi.mw/images/stories/data_on_line/demography/Labour%20Force/Labour%20Force%20Survey%202013/Malawi%20Labour%20Force%20Surver%202013%20Report.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{explain|date=January 2025}} This gap continues with wages in Malawi.<ref name=":12">{{cite web|url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2020.pdf|title=Global Gender Gap Report 2020|date=2020|website=World Economic Forum}}</ref> The highest-ranked sub-Saharan state, Rwanda, scored a 0.791 on a 0–1 scale and Malawi scored 0.664.<ref name=":12" />

Women's participation in national politics has been shown to be weaker than men's due to stereotypes.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://afrobarometer.org/sites/default/files/media-briefing/malawi/mlw_r6_presentation4_gender.pdf|title=In Malawi, women lag behind men in political participation and activism: Findings from Afrobarometer Round 6 Surveys in Malawi|date=2014|website=Afrobarometer}}</ref> Female participation in politics is further restricted by gatekeepers, who provide access to the resources needed to win elections and maintain seats in parliament.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kayuni|first1=Happy Mickson|last2=Chikadza|first2=Kondwani Farai|date=2016|title=The Gatekeepers: Political Participation of Women in Malawi|url=https://www.cmi.no/publications/5929-gatekeepers-political-participation-women-malawi|journal=CMI Brief|language=en|volume=12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/10289.pdf|title=Women and power: Representation and influence in Malawi's parliament|last1=O'Neil|first1=Tam|last2=Kanyongolo|first2=Ngeyi|date=February 2016|website=Overseas Development Institute|last3=Wales|first3=Joseph|last4=Mkandawire|first4=Moir|access-date=20 April 2020|archive-date=26 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200326200405/https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/10289.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> This limited participation is directly correlated to the limited number of women in politics. The national parliament has appointed female members to seats in the body, and over 20% of the seats in parliament are held by women.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/gender-quotas/country-view/219/35|title={{!}} International IDEA|website=www.idea.int|access-date=26 March 2020|archive-date=28 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328054446/https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/gender-quotas/country-view/219/35|url-status=dead}}</ref>