Finnish study: tall, good-looking women earn more

Women who are tall and beautiful earn more money in Finland, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of Turku said the results are similar to those found in other countries, although the Finnish study was the first of its kind to gather data from numerous research organisations.

The report not only showed that adult females that are tall and/or beautiful typically make more money than full-figured women, but also that they’re more likely to obtain and retain employment. In fact, obese working women are twice as likely to be unemployed than skinny women, and on average earn around five percent less for performing the same roles.

Professor Pekka Räsänen told the YLE news agency, “Carrying a significant amount of excess weight lowers women’s salaries and increases their risk of becoming unemployed.” Researchers also said that the effects are particularly apparent for females working in white-collar jobs.

Kaisa Kauppinen, a senior researcher at the Helsinki-based Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, told YLE, “Among well-educated women, thin females earned up to a fifth more than those who were obese, and that’s a pretty significant difference.”

In contrast, the report said that weight and attractiveness have little effect on the salaries of Finnish men. However, taller men typically earn more money than their shorter counterparts, according to the report.