The effect of body weight on employment among Canadian women: evidence from Canadian data

Abstract

Objectives: This paper examines the impact of obesity on labour market participation among Canadian women by using various Canadian population health surveys. Methods: We estimate the impact of obesity on labour market participation using probit and bivariate probit regression models. To correct for a potential endogenous relationship between obesity and labour market participation, we also use instrumental variables in the bivariate probit regression context. Results: The results suggest that the probability of employment has negative association with the body weight of women. This effect is statistically significant and has substantial impact on employment. The results show that obesity decreases employment probability by about 25 percentage points for women. Conclusion: In addition to well-known negative health consequences, obesity also has additional negative effect on employment. This negative impact on employment is comparable to the impacts of mental health or illicit drug use on employment. Public health policies aimed at reducing obesity would generate additional benefits to society. Our results also provide additional evidence for lawmakers to amend the labour laws in Canada in order to acknowledge and prohibit hiring practices that discriminate against individuals with high body weight.