Slimmer Waistline, Bigger Paycheck
Some extra incentive for the Ricochet career women to make time for the treadmill today:
[A] new study [shows] that employers seem to treat women exactly the way the fashion industry does – by rewarding very thin women with higher pay, while penalizing average-weight women with smaller paychecks.
The study is the first look at the effects of being very thin on men vs. women. Separate studies of 11,253 Germans and 12,686 U.S. residents led by Timothy A. Judge of the University of Florida found very thin women, weighing 25 pounds less than the group norm, earned an average $15,572 a year more than women of normal weight. Women continued to experience a pay penalty as their weight increased above average levels, although a smaller one — presumably because they had already violated social norms for the ideal female appearance. A woman who gained 25 pounds above the average weight earned an average $13,847 less than an average-weight female.
Lame. But it gets worse:
Men were also penalized for violating stereotypes about ideal male appearance, but in a different way. Thin guys earned $8,437 less than average-weight men. But they were consistently rewarded for getting heavier, a trend that tapered off only when their weight hit the obese level. In one study, the highest pay point, on average, was reached for guys who weighed a strapping 207 pounds.
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Aug '10
Re: Slimmer Waistline, Bigger Paycheck
Awesome. I was 208 lbs when I stepped on the scale this morning. I look forward to the big paycheque that is SURELY waiting in my mailbox when I get home from work tonight.
May '10
Re: Slimmer Waistline, Bigger Paycheck
And the underlying cause is what? They wanted to bed the women and beat the fat slob men at golf?
Jul '10
Re: Slimmer Waistline, Bigger Paycheck
My new weight goal is now set. Thank you, Ms. Ellis. I'll now be able to down those burritos in SF next month as an investment!
Jul '10
Re: Slimmer Waistline, Bigger Paycheck
Conspicuously absent is the weight to height ratio.
Re: Slimmer Waistline, Bigger Paycheck
Humza Ahmad: My new weight goal is now set. Thank you, Ms. Ellis. I'll now be able to down those burritos in SF next month as an investment! · Oct 13 at 11:33am
And I guess I'll just have to watch everyone eating burritos.
Jul '10
Re: Slimmer Waistline, Bigger Paycheck
Diane Ellis, Ed.
Humza Ahmad: My new weight goal is now set. Thank you, Ms. Ellis. I'll now be able to down those burritos in SF next month as an investment! · Oct 13 at 11:33am
And I guess I'll just have to watch everyone eating burritos. · Oct 13 at 11:45am
Yeah forgot that part...
But seriously, this study has some holes so big you could drive a Mack truck through them. For one, it is well-known that those in lower income levels are more likely to be overweight and obese in general. This raises the question of causality: are overweight people more likely to earn less money, or are lower earners more likely to end up overweight? Further, as Mr. Carter alluded to, this talks about weight, not body image. I think it's clear that the opinions of those making compensation decisions are much more affected by how someone looks rather than their objective weight. This study controlled for variables for the sake of being good scientific research, but you can't read too much into its results.
So feast, we shall, together and without fear of poverty!
Aug '10
Re: Slimmer Waistline, Bigger Paycheck
And waist-to-hip ratio.
Seriously, though, my anecdotal experience is that at the times when a woman has her life together -- and hence would probably make a better employee -- she is usually at a lower weight than the times she hasn't got her life together. For women more than men it takes work to stay at an acceptable thinness, and the fact that a woman is not acceptably thin may indicate that she is struggling with other things that would also make her a less productive employee. (I've seen this happen both to myself and many female acquaintances.)
Also, what about family involvement? Did they control for whether the less-thin, lower-paid women might have also been having kids while the thinner, higher paid women weren't? Because having kids definitely correlates with higher body-weight, and also with less time and energy to devote to your career. Also, how many mothers have the luxury of a calm, predictable life? Kids make you crazy, and crazy maybe isn't what employers are looking for.
Self-confidence could be another confounding factor.
May '10
Re: Slimmer Waistline, Bigger Paycheck
Just a guess, but I would say that those 207 lb men are close to or over 6 ft as well. I would say that, for men, height would be a bigger factor than weight. However, the two would tend to correlate. I agree that there are significant issues with these results. I want to see the data.....
Aug '10
Re: Slimmer Waistline, Bigger Paycheck
If I don't have a big fat cheque in my mailbox, I'm blaming you for pointing out that I'm not tall enough to qualify.
That's right Devin, you. Totally your fault.
Sep '10
Re: Slimmer Waistline, Bigger Paycheck
Don't forget Executive Hair.
May '10
Re: Slimmer Waistline, Bigger Paycheck
All I can say is, way back when Rubber Duckie was a SAHM, she weighed a little bit more (never even chubby, though, I hasten to add) than she does now, and now she makes a lot more money. I'm sort of average at everything (height, weight) so I don't count in this equation..
The single data point anecdotally supporting the study!
Edited on Oct 13, 2010 at 3:48pmJul '10
Re: Slimmer Waistline, Bigger Paycheck
The point about men earning more as they get heavier could be explained by the fact that people tend to gain both weight and organizational seniority as they get older, couldn't it?
May '10
Re: Slimmer Waistline, Bigger Paycheck
No doubt. This point along with Devin's point about height explain the findings regarding men--a classic confusion of causation and correlation.
And as a self-employed, physical-labor guy, the more I weigh, the harder the work, the less I get done, the less I earn.
Jul '10
Re: Slimmer Waistline, Bigger Paycheck
I have dabbled just enough in statistics and logic to understand how ludicrous this is. It only makes sense if you accept the a priori premise that "appearance" is the determining variable. Everbody repeat after me: "Correlation does not imply causation"!
Could it be that both appearance/weight and financial success are both caused by oither factors? Perhaps other variables, like self-discipline and goal-orientation, could explan both? And that in women this manifests as greater attention to maintaining ideal weight and appearance? Maybe?