Evidence of Between- and Within-Household Child Nutrition Inequality in Malawi: Does the Gender of the Household Head Matter?

This paper uses a variance decomposition approach to investigate inter- and intra-household inequalities in under-five children’s nutritional status in Malawi and distinguish between explained and unexplained variance. The adopted linear random effect model is based on a version of the conceptual framework by UNICEF, and the adopted dataset is from the Malawian Endline Survey 2014. The selected impact variable is child stunting. The explanatory variables are representative of the underlying and basic causes of this nutritional status. This study adds to the literature by providing an estimate by the gender of the household head and up-to-date evidence on the case of Malawi, where the prevalence of child malnutrition is rampant. The results reveal that between-household inequalities, especially those unexplained by the adopted model, mostly drive the long-term child nutritional inequalities. Policy suggestions for the design of nutritional and redistributive policies aimed at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the country’s growth and development strategy are provided.