Single women’s marriage/cohabitation rates rise by 29 percentage points and employment among baseline non-employed women rises 27 percentage points after six or more quarters. Existing partnerships do not dissolve, and already-employed women show no upward job mobility. The pattern suggests that part of the female obesity penalty operates at new-match formation rather than only through health or incumbent productivity.
As the overwhelming majority of women in the labor force are actually employed, an effect that is seen only on the unemployed may not be appropriate to extrapolate across the entire population.
In another longitudinal study, also published by the NBER, reports a slight trend that already-employed women have a slight drop in employment when going on GLP-1s, and when evaluated over the entire population, the study’s authors conclude that GLP-1s do not have a meaningful effect on employment rates.
Overall, the evidence is much, much weaker than the article’s tone suggests.
I have nothing but a hunch to back this up: I’d be weary of the potential bias introduced by the medicine price vs available cash in the general unemployed population. The households that can afford glp-1s will likely be socio-economically stronger, thus the unemployed women will be better educated and more likely to be re-employed.
This headline and article misrepresent the study’s findings, and overstate the evidence for its conclusions. From the abstract, by the study’s actual author:
As the overwhelming majority of women in the labor force are actually employed, an effect that is seen only on the unemployed may not be appropriate to extrapolate across the entire population.
In another longitudinal study, also published by the NBER, reports a slight trend that already-employed women have a slight drop in employment when going on GLP-1s, and when evaluated over the entire population, the study’s authors conclude that GLP-1s do not have a meaningful effect on employment rates.
Overall, the evidence is much, much weaker than the article’s tone suggests.
Thank you!
I have nothing but a hunch to back this up: I’d be weary of the potential bias introduced by the medicine price vs available cash in the general unemployed population. The households that can afford glp-1s will likely be socio-economically stronger, thus the unemployed women will be better educated and more likely to be re-employed.