If you are amazed by the amount of tax that is taken out of your paycheck each month, well, ladies, get ready to tack on another, known as the “pink tax.” Women are unknowingly paying a higher percentage for a lot of the same products that their male counterpart are paying for.
In 2015 the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) conducted a study on the gender pricing of goods in New York City. On average, across all five industries studied, findings reported that women’s products cost about 7% more than similar products for men. If the number 7 PERCENT doesn’t faze you, how about this? The products included items like toys (7% more for girl toys), adult clothing (8% more for women’s clothing), personal care products (13% more for women), and even senior health care products (8% more for women’s products). Wait, what? Yes, even senior citizen women are paying more than men for their braces and canes! This means that over the span of our lifetime, buying those Venus sensitive razors with the cute purple flowers, that Dove body wash in pomegranate and lemon, even those Levis jeans, we will be spending thousands of dollars more than our gendered counterpart. If that doesn’t make your blood boil, then read a little further.
Among the findings, the largest price discrepancy was in hair care products. Women spent 48% more on shampoo than men, almost doubled! Runner up for price discrepancy was for razors, which cost women 11% more. If you think about it, women typically have more hair to shampoo, and go through razors in half the time it takes men to even consider shaving their caveman beards. This means that we are constantly replenishing our personal care items, much more than the average man.
This pink tax goes well beyond retail shopping, women are reportedly paying more for services such as haircuts and dry cleaning. Unfortunately, this is not new and has been an ongoing phenomenon. A study in 1992 found that women were twice as likely to have been quoted a higher price than men for a used car, shedding some light on the issue back then. A few years later, California became the first state to enact a bill to protect consumers from price discrimination for services, and soon many states followed. Unfortunately, this doesn’t stop businesses from violating the gender pricing law, as it is clearly evident today.
What can you, a female consumer, do to stop this atrocity? The DCA encourages consumers to join their social media campaign to address the ongoing issue. We all know the power of social media; Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, there is an unlimited resource of media outlets to spread the word and bring rise to the issue. Join the DCA social medial campaign by tweeting examples of gender pricing and fair pricing with the hashtag #genderpricing.
This pink tax sheds light on a whole new type of gender inequality, where, once again, the woman is disadvantaged and the “alpha” male is privileged. As if a wage gap and glass ceiling are not enough for us women to deal with, add on another crippling disadvantage. As it is, women are already getting paid less than men for the same, if not better, quality of work. Stand up to gender inequality and don’t let businesses take our hard-earned money, just because we like the cucumber scented shampoo. Yes, the individual price difference may seem minute, but the cumulative cost is astronomical. Next time you head to the store for your necessary toiletries, snap a pic and voice your frustration. Because after all, who runs the world? GIRLS!