Forget “who gets the guy” – let’s talk who has the better salary. Which is it – the Pretty Woman or the Plain Jane?
If you’re interested in making a great living, best to get yourself in good shape and clocking in with snazzy style. Because apparently, looks pay.
Salary.com offers startling statistics when it comes to pay discrepancies based on appearance. I already knew that tall guys rake in bigger bucks than their shorter counterparts, but I was unaware that weight, hair color and looks in general resulted in the sizable compensation gap we see in Salary.com’s reporting.
Significant overweight, it seems, is a primary element of bias in compensation.
Overweight? Underpaid…
Obese workers… are paid less than normal-weight coworkers at a rate of $8,666 a year for obese women, and $4,772 a year for obese men, according to a George Washington University study that cited data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth in 2004.”
Think about that! $4,772 less per year if you’re an obese man. Imagine that disparity over the course of a career. Even without a compounding affect, assuming a working life of 40 years, that’s $190,000 less – with impacts on opportunity, on investment, and social security / retirement earnings.
And for women? It’s double that amount.
Anyone care to dispute that fat prejudice is alive and well? That all too often perception overrules substance, as we judge character and competence by little more than appearance?
Hey Good Lookin’! More Moolah Cookin’?
A recent article on The Broad Side ties the looks factor to the much touted need for women to “lean in,” featuring one perspective on female success and attractiveness. Author Tracy Thompson considers the top women CEOs and writes:
Of the top female executives, six easily qualified for the “wow” factor, and you could argue for a seventh, based on the fact that in her younger pictures she simply glows with loveliness. We’re talking way-above-average looks here, of the kind that could get a person work in the movies.
A few other far-from-fun facts from Salary.com, for those of us who may not be graced with Big Screen features or bodies:
- blondes earn more than their female counterparts with darker hair, and also marry richer men;
- the height differential may be mightier than you realize, as tall workers earn $783 per inch more than shorter ones!
A surprise to me?
Women Who Wear Makeup Make More Money
Women who wear makeup (in moderation) also earn more, while ranking higher in “competence and trustworthiness” –
… according to a study funded by Procter & Gamble, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston University, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. A study in the American Economic Review said women who wear make-up can earn more than 30 percent more in pay than non make-up wearing workers.
Seriously?
Good thing, I guess. My Dior shadows aren’t cheap!
Still, does this mean if I’m a short, overweight, dark-haired woman who wears little to no makeup, then I’m doomed to a poverty wage? Must I crawl back into my Lilliputian cave, paint my brunette locks platinum, and invest in the latest 7” monster heels after all?
Dare I even look for data that compares earnings by age? What of a 50+ year old woman with white hair and a few extra pounds? As long as she manages a modest amount of makeup, is she safe from the worst of the appearance compensation gap?
Age Discrimination and Pay
Trying to pin down data on age discrimination and pay is tricky. Age discrimination tends to play out as the 50+ crowd is laid off or nudged into early retirement, and may then struggle to get back into the workplace at any level of compensation.
In fact, when it comes to landing a job, The Ladders has this to say – and it ain’t pretty.
Age discrimination is neither legal nor fair. Nevertheless, it is prevalent in a variety of forms, job seekers, career coaches and recruiters agree.
The Ladders article focuses on searching for jobs, referring not only to the fact that 50+ job seekers experience difficulty getting their resumes past younger recruiters (in part due to compensation assumptions), but if they do, gray hair may put them at a disadvantage.
The sticking point could be just that the interviewer is surprised to see gray hair on a candidate he or she assumed was younger.
“If you’re an executive in your mid-50s who made it through the first screenings because you didn’t put your first couple of jobs on your resume or excluded the year you graduated, you could walk into that interview and be talking to an HR person who’s the age of your child…”
Of course, if you’re in your mid-50s and do show a complete resume, you may never make it through that first screening…
How Much Should a Mother be Paid?
One more compensation item I couldn’t resist: Salary.com’s “Mom Survey” and Wizard.
Pop by and see what your caregiving, organizing, mentoring, housekeeping, chauffeuring, nutritional counseling, cooking, homework helping, doctoring, and life coaching skills (to name a few) are worth, in the “mothering” arena. And that’s not taking into account any special skills you may bring to your child, such as teaching a second language.
In 2012, in the case they site, the figure was roughly $113,000/year.
I wonder… Is that with or without blonde hair, a 24” waist, false lashes and a height of 5’6” or above?
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Wow, this is a difficult post to read. I am a proponent of looking your best no matter the occasion, but it is so sad that our society has become one that rewards the skinny, pretty and young. It should be that the best person is rewarded. I think since I am almost 60 and overweight, I am happy I am employed at all. I would like to think with my experience and knowledge after working for so long that I would be marketable on the job scene…but that just may not be reality. So sad!
I think our “disposability” in the traditional job market has been surprising to many of us these past few years. That’s a matter of tough economic times, and also, the continuing preoccupation in our culture with a narrowing definition of good looks, not to mention the devaluing of experience.
I don’t believe that leaves those of us who aren’t “young, pretty, or thin” without options. But it does make our challenges greater.
What if you’re skinny, pretty, and 59? Not everyone over 50 is dowdy….I can still turn heads by men my son’s age….And I don’t color my silver; in fact at Neiman’s, I was told it looks highlighted. Give us savvy women a break! Besides, many of us are our own boss!
It is so tough out there. On the one hand, as a fit, not yet grey 58-year old who lost her job almost three years ago, I can tell you that age discrimination is alive and well in the workplace. I’m also trying to accept the fact the career I once had — as a professional writer — no longer pays. So what do we do? I don’t have any answers, I only know that I’m not ready to give up. I may never have a paying writing gig again, but I’ll be damned if I’ll let a twenty-something sitting in an HR chair convince me that I don’t have anything of value to offer. I’ll let you know when I’ve figured it out and found the “new” me.
I understand all too well, Judith. And I’m anxious to hear how it goes! One thing is for sure. Competence is always needed, though we may be required to get creative as to how we make it known – as many times as it takes, in any number of incarnations.
“Unattractive women have lower labor-force participation rates, and marry men with less human capital,”
So basically if you are looking for a position, you are at the mercy of how the person interviewing you defines, “attractive.” When the rubber hits the road it isn’t about job skills but looks?
I’d like to know who hired the shallow idiots who are doing the hiring.
I’m with you on that one, Cathy… Yes, at the mercy of what is considered attractive, assuming you get beyond an initial screening.
But having been part of the HR world peripherally for 20 years, depending on the nature of the position, hiring is a matter of many interviews with both individuals and groups, and the extent to which appearance is important will also vary based on your dealings with the public or need to be a “face” of the organization.
Still, it’s very easy to use lines like “I don’t see this individual meshing well the group” or similar, which never expresses anything about appearance per se, thus allowing for any aspect of appearance (including age) to be an underlying determining factor.
Just goes to show that we, as a culture, talk the talk about equality and rewards based on merit…but can’t walk the walk. I’d be interested in the psychology behind these statistics and why this happens. As sad as it is, I do understand an employer’s reluctance to hire an overweight candidate despite their credentials if medical benefits are paid for by the company. Unfortunately that extra weight many times translates into health issues that end up affecting everyone and the cost of insurance. Not saying it’s right, just an economic observation. I suppose to some extent, it’s the same with men/women of a “certain age.” Definitely a topic chock full of controversy!!
The other sad thing is that the same often applies to relationships. Weight, age, being less attractive can put you behind those who are better endowed, particularly if you are female. Being intelligent, kind, generous, loving and the like are often trumped by the younger and prettier. And that hurts because there’s little you can do about it. Things beyond your control work against you. Our minds can’t override raw instinct.
I agree, Bronte. Terribly sad.
I guess people who are doing the hiring do not always have their eye on the ball: productivity. Certainly age, weight, looks dress and attractiveness can be a factor in certain types of jobs such as sales (at the lower and mid level). There are of course degrees of each. That said when I hired I hired based on productivity. I found that HR departments were not very helpful other than eliminating the persons who were truly not qualified.
I preferred to hire on my own and have my assistant sit in. I would often hire women in their late 40s going back to the workforce after raising kids. They worked hard, there was no drama, they had educations and life experience. I started doing this in my late 20s and it fared me well. That said I did hire some people who did not fit this mould for specific reasons. The young brianiac with a killer instinct and an analytical mind, the older distinguished gentleman who could out schmooze they best, and yes the pretty blonde socialite with daddy’s business and social connections. At the end of the day everyone knew I did not care about how hard or how long you worked, I just looked at the bottom line. This approach is fair but it can also be quite harsh.
Post divorce and medical scare I am still goal oriented but also a little more kind and understanding (much to the surprise of others in the former and current field and office).
At the end of the day production should be the yardstick for hiring, performance and retaining employees. It seems that organizations and government forget this (even the public does when they look at political candidates – see the recent discussions on Christie’s weight/physique).
Errrp. Sobering. How terrible. How terrible that as a society something so superficial means so much. Terrible.
I’m guilty of this. I am guilty of looking at successful women and thinking less of them for a poor choice in lipstick.
Not sure how to break the cycle.
Natalie, Doesn’t awareness help break the cycle? (And we all do this to some degree. If we pay attention, maybe we can do so less.)
The “mom paycheck” link for this non-blonde, just-shy-of-short, non-wearer of makeup (okay, PLENTY of moisturizer but only occasional lip gloss and not much else) was an interesting one. I haven’t done the personalized math yet, but it is hard to remember what we’re saving as a household by having me at home right now. Costs of day care and home cleaning services and any other assistance we’d need vs. doing it all on our time? We know it’s a bundle — thank you for the reminder.
Fascinating, isn’t it, CT? (Sending maternal hugs and good wishes to your new parent household! Email me some baby pics!) 🙂
BLW
You are a woman after my own heart. All your articles speak to me. I had commented on your “Something Like “Marriage” article. My husband is a dean in a small college and it has gotten really annoying watching him wedge out women over 50 (or overweight) and eagerly hire attractive females. Of course, he always has ‘reasons’ to support his choices. I have to bite my tongue in my assessments for fear of being pronounced ‘jealous’ or ‘imagining things’. I have become more aware of this in the last couple years because I am now 51 years old. As you can imagine my age has been tough for me because of a husband that favors young women.
Melissa, My heart goes out to you. I wonder just how many (quietly, sadly) live through these same feelings, managing some measure of acceptance on automatic, hoping things get better, and wondering how we got here.
Of course, there are no easy answers. But I hope it helps, in some small way, to know that many, many understand and empathize.
I still stubbornly insist on believing there are terrific men and women both all around. Sometimes there for us as friends, as a momentary means of inspiration, or something more. If only it were easier to connect. But we’re here, and talking about all this, so perhaps that’s not such a small thing.
Sending hugs.
BLW
BLW
Thank you so much for your kind words. I look back now and wonder just how many jobs I got just because I was young and pretty. It is an adjustment to accept the over 50 role. It kind of sneaks up on you. For instance, I have managed to get college instructor jobs with no problem. Even just a few years ago when I applied for a part time job teaching a basic accounting course. My credentials are limited, but eventually the dean put me in the position and took a chance. Could that have been because of my looks?
Fast forward 5 years. Same college, but different dean. Still a male. I heard through social connections that they were losing their part time math instructor. I have been teaching that same subject at another local college, so felt confident in applying. I called the dean and he was real friendly and said to email a resume. I called the next day to make sure he got it, and he said yes he did. That was several months ago. I never heard back. Now it could either be because my credentials are not good enough or because I burnt a bridge when I was there before. Or perhaps could it be my resume with graduation dates from 1985?
I will probably never know.
I hear you, @Melissa. It’s an all too familiar story.
BLW
You are in tune and very prompt with your posts! The redeeming factor with the non-response dean saga is that he never actually met me. I can always hold on to the idea that he did not actually see me and think “Ew. She looks too old”. Rationalization and denial have become my dearest friends.
Sometimes I feel that perceptiveness is a hindrance.
Here’s the dilemma, Melissa. In some circumstances, one can rationalize, and perhaps with reason, that an individual needs to “fit in” in order to be part of a smooth running team. If everyone is 20-something and the manager is 30-something, there are fears that someone who is 40+ on the team won’t be accepted by the team, or, that individual will tend to take over – which the team won’t like and the 30-something supervisor/manager will be threatened by.
There are a great many assumptions in that scenario – but I’ve seen it and heard it discussed many times, and there can be validity to it. Naturally, an individual who is capable of doing the job and fits in with others easily will, simply put, do the job – and age is irrelevant.
In some work – not only is your “fit” in an on-site capacity not relevant, but the groups with whom you work / interact are enhanced by diversity, and already diverse. (I’m thinking of creative organizations, and also some environments in education.) The fact of not even considering a resume (based on assumptions of age/experience/compensation) is a real loss. In this market, not only are the assumptions of compensation frequently a non-issue, but only when you meet someone can you truly get a read on the soft skills that can make a huge difference to success in any position. Among those – body language, energy, enthusiasm, quality of engagement, communication of all sorts, thinking on your feet – etc.
To never reach that point of face-to-face meeting seems a terrible waste to me – for both the candidate and the organization / individual doing the hiring.