Do women with higher body weight earn less than other women, does the pattern hold for every group of workers, and is it about health or about bias? Two US studies published in 2004 and 2008, plus a 2013 summary by the economist behind the first one, point to a wage gap for white women, no settled answer on why, and a rise in reported discrimination.
The 2004 wage study
For white women in a US national survey, a weight difference of roughly 65 pounds was associated with 9 percent lower wages, a 2004 study found. The author, economist John Cawley, writes in the abstract of his Journal of Human Resources paper that “a difference in weight of two standard deviations (roughly 65 pounds) is associated with a difference in wages of 9 percent.” He adds that, in absolute value, this is “equivalent to the wage effect of roughly one and a half years of education or three years of work experience.” That figure is for white women only.
Cawley’s 2013 summary of his research ties his finding for white women to the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) 1979 Cohort. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics describes the NLSY79 as a nationally representative sample of young men and women living in the United States when the survey began. Neither Cawley source gives the survey years used.
For other groups of workers, the abstract says: “Negative correlations between weight and wages observed for other gender-ethnic groups appear to be due to unobserved heterogeneity.”
What the data cannot say
In a 2013 summary of his research for the National Bureau of Economic Research, Cawley wrote that, based on the NLSY data, “it is impossible to say whether the labor market consequences of obesity are the result of relatively worse health impairing productivity, or to employer discrimination”. Put simply, his data could not separate an effect of health on work from bias by employers. He added that “other studies suggest that discrimination plays an important role.”
That caveat comes from the same economist whose 2004 abstract says the paper “finds that weight lowers wages for white females”, so this page reports the 2004 result as a link, not as proof of why wages differ.
Reported discrimination rose
A separate 2008 study in the journal Obesity, by Tatiana Andreyeva of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University and colleagues, looked at a nationally representative sample of US adults aged 35 to 74. It used two waves of the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS), from 1995 to 1996 and from 2004 to 2006.
Among these US adults aged 35 to 74, the share who reported weight or height discrimination rose from 7% in 1995 to 1996 to 12% in 2004 to 2006. These are self-reported experiences, not confirmed cases, and the survey asked about weight and height together. The reports covered “a variety of settings in major lifetime events and interpersonal relationships”, so they are not a measure of weight discrimination in the workplace alone.
The rise showed up in all population groups except the elderly, and the authors say the growth is “unlikely to be explained by changes in obesity rates.”
The short version
In a 2004 study, a weight difference of roughly 65 pounds was linked with 9 percent lower wages for white women in a US national survey, and Cawley’s own 2013 summary says his data cannot tell whether health or employer discrimination explains it. Separately, the share of US adults aged 35 to 74 who reported weight or height discrimination rose from 7% to 12% between 1995 to 1996 and 2004 to 2006. The newest data on this page are from 2004 to 2006.
Last checked: 2026-10-20, against the published abstract of Cawley (Journal of Human Resources, 2004), Cawley’s NBER Reporter summary (2013), the PubMed abstract of Andreyeva and colleagues (Obesity, 2008) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics NLSY79 overview. This article was machine-checked against the sources above and has not been expert-reviewed. Spotted an error or a newer public figure? Please tell us on our contact page with the article link and we will review it.
Sources
- S1 Cawley J. “The Impact of Obesity on Wages.” Journal of Human Resources, 2004, 39(2):451 to 474. https://ideas.repec.org/a/uwp/jhriss/v39y2004i2p451-474.html . RePEc abstract page, saved copy accessed Oct 20, 2026.
- S2 Cawley J. “The Economics of Obesity.” NBER Reporter, 2013, No. 4 (posted December 18, 2013). https://www.nber.org/reporter/2013number4/economics-obesity . Saved copy accessed Oct 20, 2026.
- S3 Andreyeva T, Puhl RM, Brownell KD. “Changes in perceived weight discrimination among Americans, 1995-1996 through 2004-2006.” Obesity, May 2008, 16(5):1129 to 1134. https://doi.org/10.1038/oby.2008.35 . PubMed abstract (PMID 18356847), saved copy accessed Oct 20, 2026.
- S4 US Bureau of Labor Statistics. “NLSY79 Data Overview.” https://www.bls.gov/nls/nlsy79.htm . Saved copy accessed Oct 20, 2026.