| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : JANUARY 15, 2001 ISSUE | |||||
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| ECONOMIC TRENDS
Extra Pounds, Slimmer Wages Heavy women sacrifice a lot in pay Americans may have grown richer in recent decades, but they have also grown heavier. Government estimates indicate that 60% of the population is overweight and 27% actually obese. Although most people are aware that being overweight can cause health problems, researchers also find that putting on extra pounds can hurt earnings--especially for women. To estimate just how much, economist John Cawley of the University of Michigan recently analyzed survey data covering a representative sample of women from 1979 to 1998. Using statistical techniques, Cawley first eliminated any effects that might reflect a tendency for low wages to inspire obesity (by causing people to become depressed and eat too much, for example). Then, assessing white, black, and Hispanic women separately, he looked at how weight affected their wages, occupational sectors, and ability to find and retain jobs. Cawley found no significant effect of weight on women's occupational sectors (blue- or white-collar) or their ability to find and keep a job. Moreover, weight appeared to have no influence on black women's wages and only a weak effect on Hispanic women's earnings. Among white women, however, being overweight lowered hourly wages substantially--about 7% for someone who tipped the scales by 65 pounds above the average. As Cawley points out, that's like losing the extra pay produced by a year of education or three years of work experience. The report raises intriguing questions that require future study. Why, for example, doesn't weight affect the wages of black women, who suffer more from obesity than white women? And how much do lower wages among overweight white women reflect either lower productivity or discrimination? But for most women, its warning is clear: Eating too much can hurt your pocketbook as well as your health. By GENE KORETZ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP |
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