Report Suggests Former Smokers Tend to Earn More

A new study published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta suggests that people who start smoking and then successfully manage to quit the habit tend go on and earn more compared to people who have not smoked at all.

The study was conducted by economists Julie Hotchkiss and Melinda Pitts who made use of data collected in the US between 1992 and 2011 to analyze the relationship between smoking and wages. The researchers found that initially smokers earned 17.5 percent lower wages with an average annual income of $27, 248 compared to $33,820 among non-smokers.

Quitting the habit not only helped them save the money that they spent on cigarettes, but they also went on to earn more money than non-smokers, though this may have something to do with the fact that majority of ex-smokers are older people and hence are more experienced in their jobs.

"It takes a special person to quit an addictive behaviour, and there is a higher reward for smoking cessation than not ever starting it. I think the qualities of persistence, patience and everything else that goes along with being able to quit are valuable to employers", Pitts said.



Source: Medindia