What is the Pink Tax?
Although the pink tax has been around since the ’90s, no one is certain of how the pink tax originated. Pink tax, also known as gender-based pricing, is an upcharge on traditionally made products for women. Many people are unaware that the pink tax adds roughly around $2000 per year for a woman in costs. Keep in mind that this is only for one year -- this would mean $20,000 additional costs for ten years. Generally speaking, there is absolutely no difference between the men’s version of the product versus the women’s version of the product.
Researchers have examined multiple toys and concluded that toys targeted towards girls were 7% higher in costs than toys intended for boys. Furthermore, on average, a study found out that the prices are 13% higher for women’s care products, 8% higher for women’s clothing, and 8% higher for women’s health care products.
As shown, the upcharge is noticeably more significant in women’s care products. For example, women’s shampoo would cost $8.39 USD compared to men’s shampoo, which would cost $5.68 USD. That’s an enormous difference of $2.71 USD. Here’s another instance: let’s say that men and women use a razor from age 13 to 79. While one razor is a meager $4.99 for men, a razor would be marked up $2.00 to $6.99 for women. Throughout their lifetime, the total amount spent on razors would be $3,952 for men and $5,536 for women. Women have to pay nearly more than $2000 purchasing razors!
There have been multiple attempts to solve this unfair pink tax, but none have succeeded. Despite how the state of New York has imposed laws since 1998 that ban gender bias pricing, said laws have been unsuccessful. As a result, American political women have tried to introduce “The Pink Tax Repeal Act,” but the government withdrew the act in the end. And, in Canada, a bill introduced in 2005 intended to stop gender discrimination pricing but was unfortunately overlooked. There is still no solution to ending the pink tax.
We must end this unnecessary gender discrimination and urge that you actively shop at brands that fight the pink tax. One great place you could shop at is Boxed, a company that focuses on making personal care items at the same price for men and women. Alternatively, you could opt for the men’s version or gender-neutral version of a product and save yourself from losing hundreds of dollars.
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