By Darliene Howell, Tegan Lecheler, Amanda Cooper, and Tigress Osborn 

Please note: Unless otherwise indicated, all quoted research cited in this article notes only statistics based on people who are or are assumed to be cisgender men or women. We encourage readers to consider how the intersections of fatness and gender cause additional marginalization and oppression for transgender and non-binary fat people.

When people talk about diversity and inclusion in the workplace, they are usually referring to diversity as presented by ethnic, racial, gender identity, disability, and sexual identity demographics. Less often is body diversity considered. It has been reported that employers often perceive fatness as a sign that the fat person has less leadership potential, is not as intelligent, is less qualified and costs the employer more than their "normal" sized peers. Fat employees often receive a lower starting wage than employees with smaller bodies. The fact that body size is not covered by anti-discrimination laws in most states or other legislative districts affects everyone with marginalized identities.

In 2008, NAAFA created the Size Diversity Tool Kit addressing body size as a business imperative as part of diversity and inclusion. In December 2008, we mailed copies of the tool kit to strategically positioned officers of America's Fortune 500, which were essentially ignored by those executives.  When NAAFA updated our Size Diversity in Employment Tool Kit in 2017, we split it into two parts: The Executive Summary and the HR Training Guide. We felt we needed to specifically address the two different audiences: the executives/owners of businesses, who are the ones to shape the policies for the work environment, and the HR staff/managers who reinforce those policies in creating the environment. 

We have seen, however, that many business leaders are more often guided by what is mandated than by what may be moral or ethical determinants, a mindset encouraged by capitalism. Unfortunately, this type of thinking is what causes wage gaps in which pay for young, cisgender white males or young, thin, white cisgender females is considerably more than for those that are older, persons of color, disabled and/or fat.

What little research that can be found on the weight wage gap is not up-to-date but here are some of the wage gap factors that we have been able to verify from more recent data.

STATISTICS ON FATNESS

• In the U.S., over 72 million adults are considered fat (2017 – 2018); 43% of men and  41.9% of women are considered fat

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tells us that non-Hispanic Blacks or African Americans have a 51% higher prevalence of fatness, and Hispanics have a 21% higher prevalence of fatness than non-Hispanic whites. This increases the probability of an even greater wage gap for the intersection of fat with these racial groups

• A 2019 study concluded that gay males had lower odds of fatness and lesbian females had higher odds of being fat; among bisexuals, bisexual females had significantly higher odds of being fat

• One in every 250 transgender adults are fat

• There are approximately 61 million disabled adults in the U.S. 

WAGE GAP FACTORS

No studies have been found that show the impact of workers who have multiple intersecting identities,  but we can theorize that more intersections with fatness will increase the wage gap (ie, body size + gender/identity + race/ethnicity + sexual identity + disability, etc). Here are some of the reported wage gap factors for fat people and those with multiple intersecting identities:

Gender

• In 2021, about 52 million women were employed in the United States

• The Department of Labor shows the U.S. earnings disparity of female to male workers as $.84 to every dollar earned (16% wage penalty)

• Fat women make 18% less than their "normal" sized peers

Race/Ethnicity

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that for the 4th quarter 2021, the percentage of earnings by race compared to white male earnings are:  Black or African American - 71%; Asian - 122%; Hispanic or Latino - 70%

Race/Ethnicity And Gender (Women)

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that for the 4th quarter 2021, the percentage of earnings by race and gender compared to 2021 white male earnings: white women - 81%; Black or African American women - 68%; Asian women - 106%; Hispanic or Latino women - 62%

LGBTQ+

Information published by the Human Rights Commission (HRC) Foundation indicate that LGBTQ+ workers earn about $.90 to every dollar (10% wage penalty) as compared to a typical worker

Disability

A report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that, in 2021:

• 19.1% of persons with a disability were employed. Of those, 29% were employed part-time. 4% of part-time workers did so due to employers’ reduction of hours or they were unable to find a full-time job.

• Across all levels of education in 2021, persons with a disability were much less likely to be employed than were their counterparts with no disability.

According to a 2019 U.S. Census Bureau report based on 2017 statistics, among those full-time, year-round workers in the U.S., workers with disabilities earned 13% lower than those without disabilities. The earning gap widened when looking at all workers regardless of schedule or occupation to 34% lower. 

Federal regulations in the U.S. limit the amount of income a disabled person can earn each year above their SSDI Disability Benefit (SGA). In 2021, the amount was $1,310 for the disabled and $2,190 for the blind. The average benefit for SSDI Disability is $15,324 which is slightly more than the poverty level.

Note: We were unable to find a breakdown of the wage gap based on gender or race for disabled workers.

IS LEGISLATION THE ANSWER?

Having weight included in anti-discrimination legislation isn’t an immediate fix for these wage gaps. BUT it can give you a foundation for fighting weight discrimination that cannot be ignored once it’s mandated.

Beyond that, adding weight to the anti-discrimination laws help protect other marginalized groups that intersect with fatness. Employers in areas where weight is not covered can currently use weight as an excuse for not hiring/promoting a person, even when the person is marginalized in other ways and a part of one or more of the groups already covered. Rather than saying they are not hiring a fat, Black, trans, disabled person based on biases, they can simply not hire the candidate on the basis of weight because they “don’t fit the corporate image”. Including weight as a criteria for nondiscrimination eliminates that loophole in the law.

NAAFA has plans to establish relationships to further the pursuit of legislative protections for fat people. If you would like to get involved in your state, go to the NAAFA website and complete the sign-up form at the bottom of the #EqualityAtEverySize page. We’ll get in contact with you when we start working in your area.