Wednesday 5 October 2022 05:42 PM Selfie Generation costs the US economy $800bn a year trends now
Americans' vanity costs the nation's economy over $800billion each year, a shocking new report finds.
A report by Harvard University found that the sharp costs come from dissatisfaction many have with their bodies and what some perceive as 'appearance-based discrimination' has become a massive cost to the US.
Losses in productivity and increased strain on employers, families and the government by these appearance concerns cost $84b each year, the report finds.
Harms to a person's well-being caused by unhappiness with their appearance - which is linked to anxiety, suicide, eating disorders, drug abuse and smoking - costs the economy $221b each year.
These issues primarily affect women, with females losing 58 per cent of the $305b directly tied to body dissatisfaction.
The report, which was performed as part of the Dove Self-Esteem Project, also tied $501b in annual losses to appearance-based discrimination.
This includes discrimination based on race, weight, shade of skin and hair texture or style.
Body dissastifaction and discrimination based on appearance cost the US economy around $800billion every year, a new report finds. Women are primarily harmed by both factors (file photo)
Researchers, who published their findings Tuesday, analyzed rates of body dissatisfaction and related issues in the population, then estimated to what extent these problems could harm a person's productivity or cause them to lose out financially.
Harms to a person's well-being caused by body issues cost the nation's economy nearly a quarter-billion dollars each year.
In total, the report estimates that around 45million Americans suffer
