Gender, Body Mass, and Socioeconomic Status: New Evidence from the PSID

Dalton Conley and Rebecca Glauber

A chapter in The Economics of Obesity, 2006, pp 253-275 from Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Abstract: Previous research provides evidence of a negative effect of body mass on women's economic outcomes. We extend this research by using a much older sample of individuals from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and by using a body mass measure that is lagged by 15 years instead of the traditional 7 years. One of the main contributions of this paper is a replication of previous research findings given our differing samples and measures. We compare OLS estimates with sibling fixed effects estimates and find that obesity is associated with an 18% reduction in women's wages, a 25% reduction in women's family income, and a 16% reduction in women's probability of marriage. These effects are robust – they persist much longer than previously understood and they persist across the life course, affecting older women as well as younger women.

Date: 2006
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:aheszz:s0731-2199(06)17010-7

DOI: 10.1016/S0731-2199(06)17010-7

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