IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0219123.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Association of weight change patterns in late adolescence with young adult wage differentials: A multilevel longitudinal study

Author

Listed:
  • Chiao-Yu Huang
  • Duan-Rung Chen

Abstract

Background: Numerous studies have demonstrated that different weight change patterns from adolescence to adulthood may exert different effects on opportunities from which individuals subsequently benefit. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the association of weight change patterns from late adolescence to young adulthood with monthly wage in young adulthood for both genders in Taiwan. Methods: A nationally representative retrospective panel of 3730 young people (1707 men and 2023 women) from the Taiwan Educational Panel Survey (2001–2014) was included. Individuals were divided into four weight-change-pattern categories based on changes in their body mass index at two time points that were 7 years apart, between late adolescence (aged 18–19 years) and young adulthood (aged 25–26 years). These categories were (1) no obesity, (2) obesity reversal, (3) developing obesity, and (4) persistent obesity. Cross-classified, hierarchical linear regression modeling analysis was performed to explore the association of weight change patterns with monthly wage in young adulthood, after adjustment for both individual- and contextual-level variables. Results: Of the weight-change-pattern categories for both genders, individuals with persistent obesity had the lowest monthly wage. For women, the mean monthly wage decreased progressively for the categories of no obesity, obesity reversal, developing obesity, and persistent obesity (test for difference, P = 0.016; test for trend, P = 0.026). Women with persistent obesity earned 20% less per month than did those who were never obese (P = 0.024), after controlling for individual and contextual factors. For men, no association was found between weight change patterns and monthly wage. Conclusion: Persistent obesity from late adolescence to young adulthood is associated with low monthly wage in young adulthood in women but not in men. These findings highlight the urgency of addressing persistent obesity early in life, especially for women.

Suggested Citation

  • Chiao-Yu Huang & Duan-Rung Chen, 2019. "Association of weight change patterns in late adolescence with young adult wage differentials: A multilevel longitudinal study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(7), pages 1-14, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0219123
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0219123
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0219123
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0219123&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0219123?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lam, David & Schoeni, Robert F, 1993. "Effects of Family Background on Earnings and Returns to Schooling: Evidence from Brazil," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(4), pages 710-740, August.
    2. Han, Euna & Norton, Edward C. & Powell, Lisa M., 2011. "Direct and indirect effects of body weight on adult wages," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 381-392.
    3. Chih-Chien Huang & Scott T. Yabiku & Stephanie L. Ayers & Jennie J. Kronenfeld, 2016. "The obesity pay gap: gender, body size, and wage inequalities—a longitudinal study of Chinese adults, 1991–2011," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 221-242, September.
    4. Dan-Olof Rooth, 2009. "Obesity, Attractiveness, and Differential Treatment in Hiring: A Field Experiment," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 44(3).
    5. Slade, Peter, 2017. "Body mass and wages: New evidence from quantile estimation," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 27(PA), pages 223-240.
    6. Attila Cseh*, 2008. "The Effects of Depressive Symptoms on Earnings," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 75(2), pages 383-409, October.
    7. Lewis M. Segal & Daniel G. Sullivan, 1998. "Wage differentials for temporary services work: evidence from administrative data," Working Paper Series WP-98-23, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    8. Brown, Charles & Medoff, James, 1989. "The Employer Size-Wage Effect," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(5), pages 1027-1059, October.
    9. John Cawley, 2004. "The Impact of Obesity on Wages," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 39(2).
    10. Joseph J. Sabia, 2007. "The Effect of Body Weight on Adolescent Academic Performance," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 73(4), pages 871-900, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Groves, Jeremy & Wilcox, Virginia, 2023. "The impact of overweight and obesity on unemployment duration among young American workers," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    2. Petter Lundborg & Paul Nystedt & Dan-Olof Rooth, 2014. "Body Size, Skills, and Income: Evidence From 150,000 Teenage Siblings," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(5), pages 1573-1596, October.
    3. Mukhopadhyay, Sankar, 2021. "Do employers discriminate against obese employees? Evidence from individuals who are simultaneously self-employed and working for an employer," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    4. Zavodny, Madeline, 2013. "Does weight affect children's test scores and teacher assessments differently?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 135-145.
    5. Nathalie Mathieu‐Bolh, 2022. "The elusive link between income and obesity," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(4), pages 935-968, September.
    6. Pekkurnaz, Didem, 2023. "Causal effect of obesity on the probability of employment in women in Turkey," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    7. Dolado, Juan J. & Minale, Luigi & Guerra, Airam, 2023. "Uncovering the roots of obesity-based wage discrimination: The role of job characteristics," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    8. Petri Böckerman & John Cawley & Jutta Viinikainen & Terho Lehtimäki & Suvi Rovio & Ilkka Seppälä & Jaakko Pehkonen & Olli Raitakari, 2019. "The effect of weight on labor market outcomes: An application of genetic instrumental variables," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(1), pages 65-77, January.
    9. Campos-Vazquez, Raymundo M. & Gonzalez, Eva, 2020. "Obesity and hiring discrimination," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    10. Berning, Joshua, 2015. "The role of physicians in promoting weight loss," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 104-115.
    11. González González, Diego, 2024. "The impact of obesity on human capital accumulation: exploring the driving factors," UC3M Working papers. Economics 43822, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía.
    12. Liisa T. Laine & Ari Hyytinen, 2022. "Temporary and persistent overweight and long-term labor market outcomes," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 181-203, June.
    13. Bongkyun Kim & Michael R. Thomsen & Rodolfo M. Nayga & Di Fang & Anthony Goudie, 2020. "Move More, Gain Less: Effect Of A Recreational Trail System On Childhood Bmi," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 38(2), pages 270-288, April.
    14. Pinkston, Joshua C., 2017. "The dynamic effects of obesity on the wages of young workers," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 27(PA), pages 154-166.
    15. Raquel Carrasco & Diego González-González, 2024. "The impact of obesity on human capital accumulation: Exploring the driving factors," Working Papers 2024-03, FEDEA.
    16. Goulão, Catarina & Lacomba, Juan Antonio & Lagos, Francisco & Rooth, Dan-Olof, 2024. "Weight, attractiveness, and gender when hiring: A field experiment in Spain," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 218(C), pages 132-145.
    17. Sonia Oreffice & Climent Quintana-Domeque, 2012. "A Matter of Weight? The Role of Spouses. Physical Attractiveness on Hours of Work," CHILD Working Papers Series 7, Centre for Household, Income, Labour and Demographic Economics (CHILD) - CCA.
    18. von Hinke Kessler Scholder S, 2009. "Genetic Markers as Instrumental Variables: An Application to Child Fat Mass and Academic Achievement," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 09/25, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    19. Xu, Wenyan & Zhao, Qiran & Si, Wei & Zhu, Chen, 2024. "Rich and fat? Isolating the causal effect of obesity on income among rural Chinese residents by Mendelian randomization," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 343633, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    20. Caliendo, Marco & Gehrsitz, Markus, 2016. "Obesity and the labor market: A fresh look at the weight penalty," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 209-225.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0219123. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.