abstract: 'This paper utilizes a rich longitudinal data set-the Women Employment

  Study (WES)-to investigate whether obesity, which is common among women

  of low socioeconomic status, is a barrier to employment and earnings for

  current and former welfare recipients. We find that former welfare

  recipients who are both White and morbidly obese have been less

  successful in transitioning from welfare to work. These women are less

  likely to work at any survey wave, spend a greater percentage of months

  between waves receiving cash welfare, and have lower monthly earnings at

  each wave. The magnitude of the difference in labor market outcomes

  between the morbidly obese and those who are less heavy is in some cases

  similar in magnitude to the differences in these labor market outcomes

  between high school dropouts and graduates. In contrast, we find no such

  labor market differences associated with morbid obesity for

  African-American respondents.

  This paper documents the relationship between weight and labor market

  outcomes for the first time among the welfare population. In addition,

  it investigates whether the correlation for White females is due to

  unobserved heterogeneity. We find that after controlling for individual

  fixed effects, the point estimate of the correlation of morbid obesity

  and each of the labor market outcomes falls considerably and is no

  longer statistically significant. These results are consistent with

  unobserved heterogeneity causing the correlation between morbid obesity

  and labor market outcomes. Findings are similar after controlling for

  the respondent''s mental and physical health. (c) 2005 by the Association

  for Public Policy Analysis and Management.'
affiliation: 'Cawley, J (Corresponding Author), Cornell Univ, Dept Policy Anal \&
  Management, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA.

  Cornell Univ, Dept Policy Anal \& Management, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA.

  Univ Michigan, Natl Poverty Ctr, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA.'
author: Cawley, J and Danziger, S
author_list:
- family: Cawley
  given: J
- family: Danziger
  given: S
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1002/pam.20135
eissn: 1520-6688
files: []
issn: 0276-8739
journal: JOURNAL OF POLICY ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT
keywords-plus: EMPLOYMENT; DISCRIMINATION; PREVALENCE; OVERWEIGHT; WEIGHT
language: English
month: FAL
number: '4'
number-of-cited-references: '29'
orcid-numbers: Cawley, John/0000-0002-4805-9883
pages: 727-743
papis_id: 102e8789e82aff5f7f6ce9b0aea9161a
ref: Cawley2005morbidobesity
researcherid-numbers: Cawley, John/E-6734-2010
times-cited: '45'
title: Morbid obesity and the transition from welfare to work
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000231991100006
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '7'
volume: '24'
web-of-science-categories: Economics; Public Administration
year: '2005'