TY  - JOUR
AU  - Averett,Susan
AU  - Korenman,Sanders
TI  - The Economic Reality of the Beauty Myth
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 4521
PY  - 1993
Y2  - November 1993
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w4521
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w4521.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Susan Averett
Simon Center
Dept. of Economics
Lafayette College
Easton, PA 18042
E-Mail: AVERETTS@LAFAYETTE.EDU

Sanders Korenman
School of Public Affairs
Baruch College
135 E. 22nd Street, Box D-900
New York, NY  10010
Tel: 646/660-6782
Fax: 646/660-6770
E-Mail: sanders.korenman@baruch.cuny.edu
M2  - featured in NBER digest on 1994-04-01
AB  - We investigate income, marital status, and hourly pay differentials by body mass (kg/m2) in a sample of 23 to 31 year olds drawn from the 1988 NLSY.  Obese women have lower family incomes than women whose weight-for-height is in the 'recommended' range.  Results for men are weaker and mixed.  We find similar results when we compare same-sex siblings in order to control for family background (e.g., social class) differences.  Differences in economic status by body mass for women increase markedly when we use an earlier weight measure or restrict the sample to persons who were single and childless when the early weight was reported.  There is some evidence of labor market discrimination against obese women.  However, differences in marriage probabilities and in spouse's earnings account for 50 to 95 percent of their lower economic status.  There is no evidence that obese African American women suffer an economic penalty relative to other African American women.
ER  -