Assortative Marriage for Height–BMI in an Israeli Sample

Abstract

Numerous studies have demonstrated that in western societies women are perceived as more attractive with weight drop (proxied by the BMI measure, where BMI =$\frac{\mathrm{WEIGHT}\mathrm{ }(\mathrm{kg})}{{\mathrm{HEIGHT}}^2({\mathrm{meter}}^2)}$, while men are perceived as more attractive with height rise. The objective of this study is to test the hypothesis that as BMI rises for a woman, she has to compromise and marry shorter men. The study is based on the 2016 wave of the Israeli longitudinal survey. We observe the cross-sectional correlation between the married couples' height, weight, BMI, age, number of children, and proxies for accumulated wealth. The first part of the analysis tests the research hypothesis directly, while the second part of the analysis adds control variables. Research findings support the research hypothesis. Under equal conditions, the projected drop in the height of the male’ corresponds to an increase in the female’s BMI and age. Moreover, research findings may support the conclusion that taller men are more successful. The outcomes suggest positive association between the height of the men, and owning a car, having children, and living in a single family detached unit.

Keywords:

• body mass index
• matched pairs
• obesity

JEL Codes:

• H75
• I12

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Israel Social Sciences Data Center (ISDC), the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for provision of project data and to Yifat Arbel and Miryam Kerner for helpful comments.

Notes

1 For the interpretation of the parameters within the framework of the double-log model, see, for example Greene (2012); Johnston & Dinardo (1997); Kmenta (1997).

2 Note that the sample mean of 68.33% couples with at least one child and 31.67% without children resembles the national average (ICBS, 2017). According to the 2016 Statistical Abstract of Israel (Table 58: Families, by Type of Family, Type of Household, Size of Family and Population Group), in 2016, 62.0% of the households are couples with at least one child and 24.9% are couples without children. Given that the remainder ($100\%-62.0\%-24.9\%=)13.1\%$ are single-parent households, they are excluded from our sample. Consequently, rescaling the national level figures yields $\frac{62.0\%}{62.0\%+24.9\%}=71.35\%$ of the households have at least one child, and $\frac{24.9\%}{62.0\%+24.9\%}=28.65\%$ are couples without children.

3 Further analysis given in the aforementioned Table 58 in the Statistical Abstract of Israel (Table 58: Families, by Type of Family, Type of Household, Size of Family and Population Group), demonstrates that the number of children is not restricted to be below 18 years (ICBS, 2017). Moreover, according to the sample analysis, available upon request, the majority of couples (51.81%) have either no children (31.67%) or one child (20.14%). The reasonable conclusion would be that these couples are at the beginning of their relationships. This conclusion is supported empirically by the regression analysis on Table 2 in the subsequent section (which demonstrates no significant difference between men with and without children).