Tall men earn more than shorter ones, research claims

ISLAMABAD: Taller men earn more money than their shorter counterparts because they are seen as more intelligent and powerful, a study found.

An extra couple of inches can add nearly £500 a year to a man's salary – a pay rise equivalent to an extra 12 months' experience.

But stature made less of a difference in determining how well women were rewarded for their work, the research suggested.

A 6ft tall man can expect 1.5 per cent more than a workmate who is 5ft 10 ins. However, female workers would need an advantage of 4 ins to get a similar boost in earnings over colleagues.

The results come from a study of nearly 7,000 men and women in Australia but back up previous studies in Britain and America which show evidence of height boosting salaries.

Professor Andrew Leigh, who led the study at the Australian National University, said: "We found that taller people earn more, with the effect being strongest for men.

"For example, the average man in our sample is 5 feet 10 inches tall.

"Our estimates suggest that if he was 6 feet tall, he would earn another 1.5 per cent, or around 950 dollars (£470), per year.

"The wage gain from another two inches of height is approximately equal to wage gain from one more year of labour market experience."

He said that while size could be an advantage in some jobs like a taller shop assistant being able to reach a top shelf without a ladder, or a slimmer construction worker being able to move around the building site more rapidly.

But he felt that the most likely explanation was down to feelings that taller people commanded more respect and discrimination against short people.

"Perhaps this has to do with status – having greater respect for taller people might be inadvertently leading to higher wages," he said.

"Or perhaps it is because of discrimination, with shorter people getting the same treatment in the labour market as women and minorities have experienced in the past."

The study also found fat people no longer earn less than their skinnier colleagues – possibly because so many people are now overweight.

"We were surprised to find that there seemed to be no wage penalty to being overweight or obese in the Australian labour market," said Professor Leigh.

He said that taller boys may be more confident as height affects things like participating in clubs and athletics, and those confidence-boosting activities as a youth lead to earning power as an adult.

Of course, there are exceptions, but the experts say if you compare two large groups of people who are similar in every respect but height, the average pay for the taller group will be higher.

However, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, both of whom have held the title of the world's richest man, measure about 5-foot-10-inches in height, so there is hope for the more diminutive businessman.