Pricing note
Baldness and hair loss
Age changes how the market prices a changing hairline.
Hair loss changes apparent age, so the male-track penalty is largest when baldness begins young and shrinks later in life. Keeping a full head of hair becomes more valuable with age. The female track applies a larger penalty because female hair loss is less common and more strongly stigmatized.
Score: male baldness subtracts $10,000 to $50,000 depending on age; not going bald adds $10,000 to $50,000. Female-track baldness subtracts $150,000.
Did you know?
- Peladophobia is the fear of bald people.
- Hair loss often becomes visible only after a person has lost a substantial share of the hair in an area.
- Losing roughly 50–100 hairs in a day can be normal.
- Wearing a hat does not starve hair of oxygen or cause baldness; living follicles receive oxygen through the bloodstream.
- Tens of millions of men and women in North America experience some form of hair loss.
- No fully bald candidate has been elected U.S. president in the television era, a coincidence that has fueled plenty of speculation about image and elections.
What did people say about bald men?
- “Bald men are hot”: 25.40%
- “More into hairy guys”: 20.28%
- “Send Bruce Willis right over”: 15.90%
- “Personality matters most”: 14.33%
- “Does anyone really care?”: 14.63%
- Undecided: 9.47%
- Total replies: 2,673
Why do men go bald?
Androgenetic alopecia—male-pattern hair loss—is the most common form of hair loss in men. It usually appears as a receding hairline, thinning at the crown, or both.
Dihydrotestosterone, or DHT, can shrink genetically susceptible follicles until they produce finer hair and eventually stop producing visible hair. Susceptibility can be inherited through either side of the family, and age makes the pattern more common. Alopecia areata, medications, illness, and repeated tension on the hair can cause other forms of loss.