If the threat of cancer isn’t enough to get someone to quit smoking, a new report has just given smokers one more reason to quit their horrible addiction. Seems the habit could be hurting smokers’ job prospects. A study out of Stanford School of Medicine found that smokers remain unemployed longer than non-smokers, and also earn substantially less money.

The study looked at 131 unemployed smokers and 120 unemployed nonsmokers, and after a year, 56% of nonsmokers had found new jobs, while the same could be said for only 27% of smokers. What’s more, the smokers that did get jobs were making, on average, five dollars less than the nonsmokers.

Of course not everything about these unemployed subjects were the same, but after accounting for variables like age, education level, race and more, the study still found smokers had a 24% less chance of getting a job than nonsmokers.

The study didn’t look at why this is the case, although the authors suggest it could be because smokers may be distracted by withdrawal symptoms during interviews. They also think smokers may prioritize spending their excess money on cigarettes, rather than things like grooming, new clothing or transportation costs.

Source: CBS News