Ever Heard of the Pink Tax? If not, you Might be Paying it Unknowingly

Spread the love

Have you been paying the “Pink Tax”? Chances are, if you’re a woman, you’ve been paying it for decades. Women spend an average of $1351 in extra costs and fees each year, as part of a gender-biased phenomenon becoming more commonly known as the “Pink Tax” or “Woman Tax”.

In 2010, Consumer Reports found that products directed at women—through name, description, or packaging—cost up to 50 percent more than similar, sometimes nearly identical, products for men.

Currently, in the United States, there are no federal laws banning gender discrimination in the sale of goods and services.

This article provides more insight into what the pink tax is and how it affects you.

Is the Pink Tax a real thing?
What Items are Pink Taxes?
Where is the Pink Tax?
What Causes Pink Tax?
Is there Pink tax in the Philippines?
What is Pink Tax India?
Why are Pink Things more Expensive?
How many States have the Pink Tax?
Why is Women’s Clothing more Expensive?
Does The Pink Tax Still Exist?
What Does The Pink Tax Apply to?
How do I Cancel my Pink Tax?
Where Does The Pink Tax Exist?
Pink Tax Examples
Why The Pink Tax is Bad
Pink Tax Calculator
Are Feminine Products Taxed?
How Does The Pink Tax Affect The Economy?
When Did The Pink Tax Start?

Is the Pink Tax a real thing?

Is there, in fact, a “pink tax?” Are women being discriminated against on the spending side of the market as well as the earning side?

The first question we might ask is how economists determine if there is discrimination in a market, especially since we can’t get inside people’s heads to know their precise intentions. What we try to do is to figure out what all of the relevant variables are that might explain the differential outcome.

So with the wage gap, we look at things like education, experience, and preferences for certain types of work. We try to adjust for differences between men and women and see if any gap remains. That is, if a man and a woman who were economically identical and differed only in their genitalia were doing the same job, would there be a pay gap?

If such differences persist even after we think we’ve accounted for all the factors that might explain the difference, then we tentatively conclude that the remaining gap might be due to discrimination. We also continue to look for factors we might have missed. Discrimination is our tentative conclusion only when all the economic explanations have been exhausted.

So how might we apply this process to the supposed pink tax?

First, what are the other explanations we might have for the price differentials? One question is whether the products being compared are, in fact, the same. Are there differences in the way they are produced, and might those production differences lead to price differences?

Perhaps women’s haircuts cost more than men’s because they are more complicated or require more skill on the part of the service provider. Perhaps women’s clothes cost more to dry clean because they have, on average, more embellishments or other aspects of the fabric that require more care by the dry cleaner.

We might call both men’s and women’s shirts “shirts,” but that doesn’t make them the same thing for the purposes of dry cleaning them. The same goes for haircuts.

A second kind of explanation might rely on subjective differences. After all, economic value is always, in the end, subjective. Things are valuable to us because we believe, for whatever reason, that they will contribute to the satisfaction of our various ends.

So perhaps women are willing to pay more for a particular cosmetic product because they have a strong preference for how it smells or some other feature of the good that does not matter as much to men.

Even the pink tax video narrator says, at the end, that if she wants to avoid the pink tax, she will “just have to smell like a man.” That statement suggests that not only do men’s and women’s products differ objectively (in that they smell different); it also implies that women might care about how the products smell more than men do.

Subjective value might apply to personal services, too. If getting that haircut “just right” matters more to women than to men, women will be willing to pay more for it, hair dressers will be willing to spend more time on women’s haircuts, and women will be more attached to particular service providers than men are. Women’s haircuts may also take longer in general and be more involved.

What we might be seeing here is what economists call “price discrimination.” That word “discrimination” has all kinds of negative connotations (and those are invoked at the end of the pink tax video), but it this context, it simply means “differentiation.” The economic definition of price discrimination is selling an identical product to different people at different prices that are not related to cost.

We see price discrimination all the time and find it harmless. Examples include student or senior citizen discounts at the movies, cheaper flights if you buy tickets in advance rather than the day before, and the differential amounts of financial aid students get at the same college.

One of the reasons we find price discrimination harmless is that we are not “taxing” those who pay the higher price, but instead enabling more people to consume the good by offering a discount to various groups.

Often, price discrimination takes place because the different groups have different price elasticities for the product. That’s a fancy way of saying that they are more or less price sensitive. For example, last-minute air travelers are often businesspeople who have to be somewhere fast, so they are less concerned about price.

Our sensitivity to price is often related to how many substitutes there are for the good in question, and how close we perceive those substitutes to be. The more, and the closer, the substitutes, the more price sensitive people will be, and the more likely firms are to lower the price for them.

If it’s true that men perceive that many of these products (especially the cosmetics) are more easily substituted for each other, then men will be less willing to pay higher prices than women. Unsurprisingly, firms respond by pricing accordingly.

So is this really a “pink tax” or is it a “blue discount?” And is it really that firms are somehow punishing women, or is it that women’s preferences are such that they are willing to pay more to get exactly the product they want?

Finally, it’s interesting that the call here is for sellers to cut their prices for women, rather than raise their prices for men. We see the same phenomenon with the wage gap, where it’s always a reason to raise women’s wages and not to cut men’s wages. Is the goal here really “equality,” or is it to use the force of law to cut prices and raise wages?

Does seeing the pink tax as generally harmless price discrimination resulting from the nature of men’s and women’s preferences mean all such price differentials are not true gender discrimination? It does not.

There may be differentials that we can’t explain and we might tentatively conclude that there appears to be discrimination. But that means we have to keep looking for alternative explanations. The differentials are unexplained — but not necessarily unjust.

Before we conclude injustice, we have to make sure we’ve exhausted all the explanations economics can offer.

What Items are Pink Taxes?

It’s pretty hard to avoid the gender tax when it’s applied to things all of us have to buy or pay for. Here are just a few things women are paying more for.

Clothes

Old Navy got busted for charging more for women’s plus-size clothing but not for men’s. The plus-sized women’s jeans were $12-15 more than the standard sized ones. But there was no such difference between the prices of men’s plus and regular-sized jeans.

Gap, who owns Old Navy, released a statement that the additional cost was because “they are created by a team of designers who are experts in creating the most flattering and on-trend plus styles, which includes curve-enhancing and curve-flattering elements such as four-way stretch materials and contoured waistbands, which most men’s garments do not include.”

The words “flattering and on-trend” aren’t exactly ones that spring to mind when I think of Old Navy. Cheaply made, and ready for the rag bag after a couple of washes are what I think.

Women’s clothing cost more than men’s in six of seven categories, except underwear, which cost an average of 29% more for men.

The clothing product category that had the most significant price difference by percent was women’s shirts, which cost 15% more on average than men’s shirts.

Dry Cleaning

Dry cleaners are another place women will pay more for the same service. Men’s shirts cost an average of $2.86 for dry cleaning and women’s cost $4.95. But a woman’s dress shirt doesn’t require any different dry cleaning technique than a man’s shirt.

Self Care Products

These are the kinds of things you buy in a drug store, razors, shaving cream, deodorant, face cleanser. These kinds of products are prime offenders when it comes to charging women more for the “pink” products.

Here’s what you can do ladies, just buy the men’s stuff!

Unless you purchase the fancy razors with multiple blades and “moisture strips,” the only difference between generic old stick razors for men and women is that our’s are pink, and their’s are blue. Surprisingly, color has little effect on the hair removal process.

And buy a big old can of Barbasol. The stuff has been around since 1919 for a reason. Lasts forever, works great, and whatever you’re shaving won’t smell like the inside of a raspberry pop tart. Women’s shaving creams have the nastiest, synthetic smells.

You’re not out of the drug store yet. If you have internal rather than external plumbing, you are going to spend about $3,000 throughout your life on pads or tampons.

Jessica Valenti wrote a piece in the Guardian last year wondering why these products weren’t free or at least not taxed. The backlash was swift and vitriolic. You would have thought she had the nerve to say that insurance shouldn’t cover Viagra!

The tampon tax has its own niche in the gender tax world and for good reason.

While women can avoid paying the pink tax in some cases by choosing the male version of something, there is no option when it comes to menstrual products.

Toys

Unfortunately, the pink tax starts at birth. Across the six product categories of toys, the girls’ items were consistently more expensive than ones for boys. The most significant price discrepancy was in helmets and knee/elbow pads.

The girls’ were priced a whopping 13% higher. If you buy things for children, you probably already know of the price disparity. Some of these companies are taking the “pink” in pink tax very seriously. Similarly, a pink kid’s beginner bike from Target.com was $80, while the non-pink version was $64.

Boomerang Commerce did a study of 50 popular kids products at six online retailers, including Target, Amazon, Walmart, Macy’s, JCPenney, and Bloomingdales.

They analyzed items in a variety of colors, and every time, the pink-colored item was the most expensive. Pink items, compared to other colors, ranged from 2-15% more.

Vehicle Repair

Northwestern did a study that had men and women call various repair shops asking about the cost of having a radiator replaced. Women who seemed clueless on the phone were quoted $406 for a job that should cost $365. Men who acted similarly uninformed were quoted $383.

The NYC Department of Consumer Affairs study found that when women bought used cars, they were twice as likely to have been quoted a higher price than men.

It pays to do enough research before making these kinds of inquiries to have a ballpark figure of what you should expect to pay. And that goes for both sexes no matter what they are paying for. People will take advantage of uninformed consumers no matter what their gender.

Where is the Pink Tax?

A study commissioned by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) found the pink tax lurking around every corner. Shampoos and conditioners packaged for women cost 48% more than the same products for men.

Buying a women’s leg support is 15% more expensive than a man’s, a women’s cane will set you back an extra 12%, and a woman can expect to pay 11% more for razors and body lotion. In need of a “feminine” helmet? You will pay 13% more than the guys pay for theirs. You’ll also pay 7% more for girl’s toys and accessories and 4% more for girl’s clothing.

What Causes Pink Tax?

There are many reasons why the pink tax exists, including tariffs, product discrimination, and product differentiation. Certain types of clothing, footwear, and gloves made for women and men are taxed at different levels when first entering the United States. While some tariffs are higher for men’s clothing, others are higher for women.

Some people argue that product differentiation can account for a portion of the difference between the prices of men’s goods and women’s goods. Products like the Radio Flyer scooter may cost more due to the cost of slightly changing the product.

For example, a pink scooter may cost more than a red scooter because it is more expensive to paint a scooter pink than red, assuming such a large difference for this reason of production would be because the red scooters are the larger production, and pink scooters are in the minority. They may also be seen as more of a “special edition”, like camo-print trampolines.

However, there has never been any evidence presented, for example, that pink paint costs more than red paint or blue paint, thereby creating cost differentials in color-coded items geared toward different genders. The Pink Tax also arises in services like haircuts or dry cleaning. Some people argue that women’s haircuts are often priced higher than men’s because women’s haircuts naturally involve more over time and are more labor-intensive than men’s; they need to price haircuts for women higher than for men.

Likewise, in dry cleaning, some people argue that men’s clothing tends to be more uniform while women’s clothing tends to have a lot of variabilities which can make it harder to clean. They also argue that pressing machines, normally made for men’s clothing, are more difficult to use on women’s clothes, which results in the dry-cleaners resorting to hand-pressing the clothing.

The reason those who campaign against the pink tax claim it to be so problematic is alleged higher prices for goods and services marketed to females arising from gender alone, with no underlying economic justification such as higher costs of production in goods.

For example, Pink Tax critics say women’s and men’s razors are essentially the same and distinguishing between them is simply a marketing strategy. While the physical difference between a men’s razor and a women’s razor is minimal, the difference in marketing those products is large.

Marketers have found that women are less price-sensitive than men, meaning that they are generally willing to pay higher prices for goods than men. Other examples of marketers acting on price discrimination are a student or senior discounts, allowing people who are more sensitive to price to pay less in order to gain their business.

Airline ticket prices in advance compared to last-minute prices are another example. People who have a greater need to buy a product are often willing to pay much more, leading to price discrimination.[better source needed] Women are often subjected to this in the tampon and sanitary napkin market.

These are products that women absolutely must buy, so they can be priced as high as a marketer would want and they would still sell their entire product. To marketers, women are less price elastic, meaning they care less about the price of a product or service.

Is there Pink tax in the Philippines?

Pink Tax is not only evident in the United States, but around the globe too. Similarly, there are some gender-specific products in the Philippines that have discrepancies in the way they were priced. In a local online retail shop, a blue Spiderman scooter for boys costs P459, while a pink Hello Kitty scooter of the same brand and manufacturer costs P520.

According to the NYC DCA, women’s personal care products, such as shampoo, lotion, razors, and soap, also cost 13 percent more than men’s. Likewise, personal products in the Philippines are also more expensive for women as compared to men. An online grocery retailer sells their men’s razors for P81.75 and female razors of the exact same brand for P122.25.

Various organizations such as Ax the Pink Tax are already fighting Pink Tax in the United States and it might be about time for us Filipinas to be informed, stay aware, and spread the word so we too can address this issue locally. For now, you can avoid the pink tax by simply examining the products carefully and weighing out your options. Be vigilant and don’t be fooled by the pink.

What is Pink Tax India?

Indian women pay higher amount than men do for similar products. Why then, is gender tax, sometimes inappropriately called ‘pink tax’, not a major issue?

If one was to shop – from a store or online, there is a good chance that a woman will end up paying more for a product, than a man. That extra, which sometimes can go up to 50 percent, is the price paid for being a woman.

This is not exclusive to India; in capitalist economies all over the world, women pay more for goods and services than men. This price differential is called ‘pink tax’, or more appropriately called ‘gender tax’.

The issue begins with the nomenclature itself. The media, especially in the West, has long used the term pink tax, which itself falls into the stereotype of colour coding women and girls with the colour pink.

“I object to the phrase ‘pink tax’. Pink for girls and blue for boys is just idiotic. Instead of continuing the trivialization, we can use a different phrase for it,” says Ritu Dewan, Vice-President at Indian Society of Labour Economics, and former President at Indian Association for Women’s Studies. She is known for her work on gender economics.

A widespread belief is that gender tax does not apply in India. On the surface, it would be difficult to find a gender tax on products and services. However, on digging deeper, one will find evidence that women pay more for a product than men.

For instance, if you look for a basic round-neck cotton T-shirt (of a leading Indian brand) online, a piece costs Rs.399 for men; whereas the women’s version is priced at Rs.419 – a straight 5 percent increase. Similarly, V-neck t-shirts are also priced differently, for men at Rs 305 and for women at Rs 359.

These are not garments which are fancier or more detailed for women.

Harish Bijoor, Brand Guru and Founder of Harish Bijoor Consults Inc. said, “It is a question of what goes into the product. It’s not really a pink tax or a pink discount. It is really about the quality of the garment, round neck or type of cotton and all that. You can’t measure it yard to yard.”

Producers and marketers might believe that women are willing to spend more when it comes to their looks and grooming. Then, pricing products higher becomes part of the marketing strategy and companies are happy to rake in a bit more from women. So, razors for women cost more than the razors for men. For instance, a 3- blade razor for men is priced at Rs 230 and a similar razor for women is priced at Rs 499.

A counter-argument to this pricing discrepancy could be economies of scale. Since more men buy more razors, the increased demand helps even out the price and makes it lower.

Similarly, there are deodorants galore for which women end up paying a gender tax.

Leading brands of deodorants cost an average of Rs 250 for a 100 ml can for men; women’s deodorants, on the other hand, cost Rs.185 for a 50 ml bottle. This is a whopping 48 percent more.

However, women and men are not even aware of the existence of pink tax, or gender tax. In a survey, conducted with a small sample size in the age group of 18-25, 67 percent of the respondents had never heard either of the terms. Interestingly, 93 percent of the respondents felt that similar consumer products were charged at a higher price for women than for men.

A sense of this differential pricing or ‘taxing’ women higher for products was brought home during the widespread agitation in India for the removal of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on sanitary napkins.

The uproar and campaigns by women’s organizations and gender activists led to a rollback of the 12 percent GST in July 2018. On the surface, it seemed like a win for women because a product for their health and hygiene had been made cheaper. In reality, sanitary napkins remained just as expensive and therefore beyond the reach of most Indian women. This is because manufacturers could not claim input tax credit any longer.

“In general, most of our choices in life are determined by marketing and advertising. With this in mind, we are drawn towards products that are marketed to make us feel prettier or fairer, etc. For this, I am certain we pay the ‘extra’ price,” said Dr. Surbhi Singh, a practicing gynecologist and founder and president of the menstrual awareness NGO ‘Sacchi Saheli’.

Some commentators believe that gender tax is not a black-and-white issue.

Advertising professional and commentator Geeta Rao, said, “There are certain categories where men’s products are more expensive, and there are others where products of women are costlier. For example, women’s grooming and beauty products are far more expensive than men’s, but business suits for men tend to be more expensive than for women. Bikes and cars targeting men are far more expensive than cars and bikes targeting women.”

While Mr. Bijoor says, “Category of products which are sold to women more, there is undoubtedly a premium which is put on these products and services. The same thing happens to items related to kid garments. A particular colour might cost different than the other.

It’ll be wrong to say that it’s a pink tax. If at all there will be a pink Bolero launched by Mahindra, it is quite likely that it would go at a discount over the regular version. Because the idea will be to give it at a discount to women rather than ask for a premium.”

Why are Pink Things more Expensive?

What we know for sure is that some specific market patterns make the Pink Tax look very real.

Tariffs. The tariffs on some imported goods vary depending on whether the product is made for men or women. On average, clothing imports for women are taxed at a higher rate than clothing imports for men — 15.1% compared to 11.9%. It may be passed on to consumers and contribute to the markup on some goods targeted to women.

Product differentiations. Sellers frequently distinguish a product or service from others to make it more attractive to a particular target market, for example, by changing the packaging and altering the color of a product. However, doing so may increase the cost of production.

For example, a manufacturer may choose to produce a smaller number of pink razors, which could increase the cost of producing each pink razor relative to the larger run of black razors.

Price discrimination. This is the practice of charging different customers different prices for the same product or service. Sellers attract buyers who would otherwise not purchase their product by offering those buyers a lower price. But it can also mean higher prices for others.

A typical example is the discounts for advanced purchases of airline tickets and higher prices for last-minute purchases. If sellers find that women are less price-sensitive and, therefore, willing to pay more for a particular product or service, they are more likely to charge a higher price for a version marketed to women.

Price fixing. Some markets may not be fully competitive, and competitors who would drive down inexplicably high prices for women’s versions of products and services may be prevented from entering the market.

As a result, firms holding a significant share of market power would be able to continue charging more for goods and services targeting women. This could indicate that there is a need for government intervention as the federal government takes an active role in maintaining competitive markets.

POS effect. There is a difference in how men’s and women’s products are represented in stores. Appealing “female” products are hard to miss with more eye-catching Point of Sale (POS) and packaging effect and, with an explosion of pink and light purple, with an added dose of glitter.

Promotions and coupons also matter, not to mention that men’s and women’s personal-care products are often sold in different areas of the store, especially in supermarkets.

How many States have the Pink Tax?

Ten states across the US have all already nixed the tampon tax: Minnesota, Illinois, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and, most recently, Nevada. Oregon, Montana, Alaska, Delaware, and New Hampshire also don’t tax menstrual products, but that’s because they don’t have general sales tax.

California is on the fence. Gov. Gavin Newsom backed a sales tax exemption for menstrual products and diapers earlier this year, the Los Angeles Times reported, but the exemption only lasts for two years. Every other state in the US allows sales tax on menstrual products, which critics say is unfair.

Dasha Burns, a writer, and strategist wrote in a CNN op-ed in 2016 that people who menstruate — including women, young girls, transsexual men, and non-binary folks — don’t have a choice to not purchase menstrual products. It especially impacts people who are low-income, she wrote.

State governments frequently exempt goods like prescription drugs or over-the-counter medication from sales tax, and the same should be done for menstrual products, Burns argues.”This goes beyond the dollar amount. This is institutional and systematic sexism,” she said. Some other countries — including Ireland, India, and Canada — have stopped taxing menstrual products.

Why is Women’s Clothing more Expensive?

If you’ve ever shopped for a woman and thought the prices seemed crazier than normal, you’re not just having a cheap moment. Chances are, the clothes are actually more expensive than what you’re used to.

Higher prices in the women’s section can sometimes be chalked up to the materials used and the workmanship that goes into the clothing, but there are other factors that could be playing a part, too—particularly if you’re eyeing the price tag of a simple sweater and not, say, an elaborate gown.

The Business of Fashion looked at pricing discrepancies in luxury brands and found that Saint Laurent, Valentino, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, and Balmain all sell identical items for different prices depending on gender.

A Saint Laurent striped sweater, for example, sells for $240 less in the men’s section than the women’s section. In cases like this, when there’s no significant difference in the craftsmanship and materials used to create the women’s version of the garment, there are really two things that could be happening.

One, brands could be raising prices in order to offset certain risks and hidden costs associated with selling to women. Buying more sizes or colors for women, for example, might inspire the brand to raise the price on something. Women’s manufactured goods are also subject to higher tariff rates in the US and EU—a controversial issue itself—which may cause retailers to charge more at checkout.

The other thing that could be happening is that brands could simply be taking advantage of, as BOF puts it, “the fact that women shop more and are willing to pay more for fashion than men”. Men are thought to approach buying clothes with more pragmatism, which prevents retailers from hiking up prices without reason.

One major exception to this stigma is the sneaker market, where marketers play all kinds of pricing and availability games with men knowing how emotional the connection is for them.

So there’s the catch. The more you care about your clothes, the more difficult it’ll become to navigate the market. Our advice: Educate yourself on the markers of quality and, at least for now, buy your girlfriend’s gifts in the men’s department.

Does The Pink Tax Still Exist?

From the results from different research conducted, unfortunately the Pink Tax still exist. Women Pay +50% more on Hygiene Products than Men.

Women are paying a “pink tax” on most personal hygiene products. When broken down to price per gram of product, products marketed to women are priced higher than those marketed to men.

In some product categories, such as body wash products, women are paying over 60% more than men per 100g of product.

From the research and from the 1000 product data we analyzed, we can conclude that the pink tax is still real. Women are still paying more for the same type of product marketed towards them.

What Does The Pink Tax Apply to?

The pink tax is the extra amount that women pay for everyday items such as razors, shampoo, haircuts, clothes, dry cleaning, etc. This is sometimes, but not always, a literal (sales) tax. More often than not, it takes the form of artificially elevated prices that women pay for the same product as men. Take razors for example. Same brand, same 5 blades, same four pack refill. Notice the price difference?

Also, packaging and/or the product itself is usually pink, hence the pink tax moniker.

How do I Cancel my Pink Tax?

Annually, the pink tax costs women nearly $1,400 above what men pay for the same products. Unless you live in an area where this type of gender pricing is banned – like New York City, Miami-Dade County, Florida or California – you’ll need to know what to do to sidestep extra fees.

1. Identify Which Products Are Overpriced

Reports say that women tend to pay more for toiletries and household purchases including razors, shaving cream, pain relievers and body wash. T-shirts, white jeans and tops taken to the dry cleaners are other items often subject to gender pricing.

The difference between male- and female-targeted items typically lies in the packaging, design or formulas used. In some cases, products for both sexes are almost identical, down to the ingredients, with the exception of their scents or some special feature. In others, there’s no difference other than the name written on the label.

When it comes to clothing, the gender-based variation in pricing is apparently widely used, according to the magazine Marie Claire. Depending on the item, men or women could get the short end of the stick. But the publication found that with dry cleaners in particular, women can be charged more. Dry cleaners argue that cleaning women’s garments requires extra effort.

So what can female shoppers do to save money? Once you’re aware of where the price discrepancies are, you can do your part to make sure you don’t fall prey to them.

2. Skip Certain Name-Brand Products

Regardless of what your local retail store decides to charge, you’ll need to remember that as a consumer, you have a choice. You have the ability to buy (or not buy) whatever you want.

If you notice that the name-brand products cost more, you can choose the generic version. You might be surprised to find that the generic brands work just as well.

3. Buy Men’s Products Instead

You also have the option of trading in a higher-priced item marketed at the female population for something you find in the men’s aisle. At the end of the day, you might not need to spend more for a razor targeted at women if the one for men works just as well.

In fact, for many of the items saddled with the pink tax, you might be better off checking out what stores offer for men. If fragrance isn’t a big deal to you, for example, it’s possible to save big bucks over time by getting facial cleansers and deodorants made for your husband and your brother.

4. Shop Around for the Best Deals

It all comes down to taking the time to comparison shop. If you’re not satisfied with the price tags at one store, you can look into what their competitors charge. That might sound like a lot of work, though, especially if the difference in prices comes to a mere 30 or 50 cents.

But keep in mind that you might replace your body wash or your shampoo several times a year. When you think about how the numbers add up, you’re potentially wasting money that could be used to cover your student loan debt or your overdue credit card payment.

Where Does The Pink Tax Exist?

Fourteen states have succeeded so far – Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Ohio, Washington, DC.

Pink Tax Examples

It’s pretty hard to avoid the gender tax when it’s applied to things all of us have to buy or pay for. Here are just a few things women are paying more for.

1. Clothes

Old Navy got busted for charging more for women’s plus-size clothing but not for men’s. The plus-sized women’s jeans were $12-15 more than the standard-sized ones.

But there was no such difference between the prices of men’s plus and regular-sized jeans.

Women’s clothing cost more than men’s in six of seven categories, except underwear, which cost an average of 29% more for men.

The clothing product category that had the most significant price difference by percent was women’s shirts, which cost 15% more on average than men’s shirts.

2. Dry Cleaning

Dry cleaners are another place women will pay more for the same service. Men’s shirts cost an average of $2.86 for dry cleaning and women’s cost $4.95.

But a woman’s dress shirt doesn’t require any different dry cleaning technique than a man’s shirt.

3. Self Care Products

Here’s what you can do ladies, just buy the men’s stuff!

4. Toys

The girls’ were priced a whopping 13% higher. If you buy things for children, you probably already know of the price disparity.

Some of these companies are taking the “pink” in pink tax very seriously. Similarly, a pink kid’s beginner bike from Target.com was $80, while the non-pink version was $64.

Boomerang Commerce did a study of 50 popular kids products at six online retailers, including Target, Amazon, Walmart, Macy’s, JCPenney, and Bloomingdales.

They analyzed items in a variety of colors, and every time, the pink-colored item was the most expensive. Pink items, compared to other colors, ranged from 2-15% more.

Why The Pink Tax is Bad

Airline ticket prices in advance compared to last-minute prices are another example. People who have a greater need to buy a product are often willing to pay much more, leading to price discrimination. Women are often subjected to this in the tampon and sanitary napkin market creating a marginalized group among women who are “period poor”.

Pink Tax Calculator

If you’re wondering how much money you’ve paid in your lifetime that the average man has not, we have an answer. You can figure out that amount using the Pink Tax Calculator, which uses your age and statistical information to find out just how much money you’ve been overcharged for being a woman. Just follow the link here

Are Feminine Products Taxed?

Tampon tax is a term used for the tax imposed on menstrual hygiene products by a government. These products are not subject to a unique or special tax but are classified as luxury items along with other goods that are not exempted.

Critics of this tax argue that menstrual hygiene products are necessities and taxing them is unconstitutional and a form of discrimination. Further, critics claim that exempting these goods by categorizing them as medical equipment or supplies would greatly benefit low-income groups.

Tampon tax is often viewed as a part of the unofficial, and biased, “pink tax,” which according to studies makes products costlier for those who menstruate.

Where Are Tampons Taxed?

As of February 2021, 30 state governments in the U.S. levy sales tax on menstrual hygiene products, such as pads and tampons.

Kenya was the first country to abolish a tampon tax in 2004. Other countries that don’t tax these goods as luxury items include Australia, Uganda, Canada, India, Nicaragua, Malaysia, and Lebanon. The U.K. tax rate went to zero as of Jan. 1, 2021.

How Does The Pink Tax Affect The Economy?

The economic impact of the pink tax is that women have less purchasing power, especially paired with the gender-based pay gap. The wage gap already puts women at a disadvantage when it comes to purchasing power.

Women currently make a statistical average 89 cents for every $1 a man earns in the United States, meaning women statistically, on average, have less income to spend on goods and services. This alone gives men more money and, ultimately, more buying power.

The pink tax further contributes to the economic inequality between men and women. Paying more for goods and services marketed to women while women earn less than men means men hold the majority of the purchasing power in the economy. Taxes on feminine hygiene products that men don’t need further contribute to this discrepancy.

When Did The Pink Tax Start?

In 1996, Governor Pete Wilson of California implemented the Gender Tax Repeal Act of 1995 requiring merchants to charge women and men the same price if a service took the same time, cost, and skill to provide. It was specifically aimed at services such as haircuts, dry cleaning, clothing alterations, car repairs, and other services—not at products.

The bill’s author, Assemblywoman Jackie Speier, told the Los Angeles Times that it was the first state law of its kind. At the time, the term “gender tax” was used to describe this type of apparent price discrimination. An earlier version of the bill that also targeted products didn’t pass.

New York City

Similarly, in 1998, New York City’s then-mayor, Rudy Giuliani, signed a bill aimed at preventing retail establishments such as haircutters and dry cleaners from basing prices solely on gender. It allowed the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs to collect fines from violators.

Specifically, the law prohibits the display of discriminatory pricing, meaning you shouldn’t see a sign that says “women’s haircut $45, men’s haircut $25” when you walk into a New York City hairdresser. New Yorkers can report gender-pricing complaints through the city’s 311 websites.

Miami-Dade County

This Florida county’s gender price discrimination ordinance applies to both goods and services. Miami-Dade County’s Consumer Services Department is in charge of enforcing this local law, which applies to all types of sellers, from individual to corporate.

It prohibits price discrimination based solely on the customer’s gender but allows price differences based on the time, difficulty, or cost of providing a good or service. Complaints can be reported to the department in writing. Aggrieved parties can sue the violating party for damages, attorney’s fees, and court costs.

United States House of Representatives

Speier, who sponsored the 1995 California act, also introduced a Pink Tax Repeal Act at the federal level in 2016.9 The bill has been reintroduced several times but has not passed.

Its purpose is “to prohibit the pricing of consumer products and services that are substantially similar if such products or services are priced differently based on the gender of the individuals for whose use the products are intended or marketed or for whom the services are performed or offered.”10 Companies violating the law would be considered in violation of the Federal Trade Commission’s unfair or deceptive acts or practices rules affecting interstate commerce.

Summary

The Pink Tax is the extra amount that women pay for everyday products like razors, shampoo, haircuts, clothes, dry cleaning, and more.
The idea is not that women are forced to pay more than men. It is rather the observation that products explicitly marketed toward women are generally more expensive than those sold for men.
Marketing strategies that result in products “for women” costing more such as price discrimination and price-fixing do exist and work successfully.
Despite these facts, all the research on this issue and data collected around it, have certain limitations.
As a result, it is a false assumption to say that goods cost more for women than for men, just because they are supposedly bought by women or marketed for women.
Instead, the scientific approach to the issue of the Pink Tax is linked to physical and mental availability.
Most women will still buy bigger brands, which are easier to notice and find in stores. But any product can have a high margin if it is distinctive and noticeable, whether it is considered as female, male, or unisex.
The key for brands is to resonate with specific consumer behavior, not a gender.