New research from Aarhus School of Business shows that obesity has a negative effect for women on the Danish labor market, while it may have a positive effect for men.

The overweight are more important for women than for men is not surprising news. But the extra kilos on the side legs could even have a positive effect for men's position in the labor market and a negative impact on women, probably will as a surprise to most. Labour Economist, Ph.D. Jane Greve from Aarhus School of Business has an extensive survey among 8,000 Danes looked at what effect obesity has on of women and men career. - The study clearly shows that being overweight has a negative effect on the status of women in the labor market. They find it harder to get jobs, and obese women who are in employment receive even lower wages, says Jane Greve. Obesity is positive for men study shows, however, that obesity in men may have a positive effect. Until they are very overweight, increasing both their opportunities for employment and their salary. It is only when they begin to approach the border with obesity and have health problems that obesity also becomes negative for men. - It is difficult to interpret, it is because men who are overweight often get jobs because they are muscular and certain jobs requiring physical strength, or the result is due to it being overweight can be a signal of authority among men . It may also be because men are thick when they entered the labor market and have got a good job, but there are indications that it is about being overweight is a sign of authority among men, says Jane Greve. The public is less discriminatory Besides looking at the effect of women's and men's opportunities for employment based on their overweight, Jane Greve also examined whether there is a difference between whether the employment is in the public or private. And there is: - In the public sector there is no negative correlation between wages and BMI for either men or women. Part of the reason is because the public sector is more difficult to discriminate because they more closely follow fixed rules for wage determination - eg step - and other fixed structures, says Jane Greve. In private however, there is a difference to trace. Here we see again that being overweight can be positive for men, where women just go down, the more they increase in weight - the more decreases their wages. Source: CBS - Aarhus University