Gender discrimination costs: the pink tax

In the United States women pay 10-15% more for products than men do. Items like shampoo, deodorant, and razors are priced higher for women even though they are of equivalent use to that of mens products. 

This is called the “pink” tax. It is not a literal tax that gets added on at the end of a purchase, but it represents the additional cost added on by companies to the products marketed towards their women consumers. 

Pink taxes have been used to make money off of women for centuries, it has been hard to make change for this issue because it’s difficult to target every individual company that is bumping their prices up.

Whenever products are imported to the US, the companies receiving the products have to pay a tariff to whoever is shipped and supplied them. The tariff on women’s products is roughly 4% higher than that of men’s. In an effort to make some of that lost money back, the companies bump up the retail price which causes the pink tax.

In a pink tax study in New York (nyc.gov: From Cradle to Cane), they found that women’s clothes, little girls’ clothing, personal care products, and senior care products were all priced higher than men’s. Sometimes, companies market items like lingerie as “luxury” in order to make more money off of women. 

Some people also categorize menstrual products as pink tax items. Studies have also shown that when women buy menstrual products, there is a separate 4-7% sales tax added on at the end of purchase. 

This tax is completely separate from the tampon and pad companies, menstrual products are considered “tangible individual property” which results in the additional tax. Products that are important to a woman’s everyday life are not seen by the government as basic necessities. Instead, they use the fact that women need them and exploit them to make more money. 

Nebraska, Colorado, Iowa, and Virginia have banned the pink tax in their states, but the ban only does so much. Banning the “pink tax” only includes the sales tax added onto menstrual products, not the higher retail price of women’s products as a whole as on by individual companies. State government can’t control how the companies operate and decide the pricing of their products.

One solution would be for consumers, legislators, and activists to make enough noise to put policies and practices into place to make the pink tax illegal everywhere.

In the meantime, though, there are some ways to avoid the pink tax if you are a woman. When it comes to buying personal care products like razors or deodorant, take the opportunity to buy it from the men’s section. Another option is to buy online and in bulk; this can help you avoid some of the additional costs.

Being mindful and making sure to compare the amount of product you’re getting, the price, and the men’s alternative can help make sure you’re getting your money’s worth. There also may be companies that are explicit about not taking advantage of women this way, especially women-owned businesses.

We need to fight to roll back the pink tax and outsmart it until we do.