History of The Pink Tax

Background

The pink tax is a phenomenon that has taken place in the United States since the 1990s. It is the strategic upcharge of prices for feminine healthcare products as well as other products. In the words of NYU School of Law professor Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, the pink tax is an income generating scenario that private companies create when marketing their products towards women. The idea behind it comes from a long history of stereotypes placing women as the main shoppers in society and the products that cost more are targeted towards them through colors and scents. With this use of brightly colored packaging as well as sweet scents, brands are able to show women which shampoo, body wash, razor, or other products are meant for them and therefore lead them to produce more revenue.

New York City Department of Consumer’s Study

In a study conducted by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, it was discovered that products that are marketed towards women and girls cost 7% more on average than those towards men and boys. In annual reports done by each state, their findings mirrored this, showing price discriminations, or the action of selling the same product at different prices to different buyers to maximize profit, can be up to 50% . It is important for companies to be competitive with each other in our capitalist economy, however this should not also pit consumers against each other and create unequal spending situations.

This price gap disproportionally affects women in lower income households

This price gap affects women in lower income households harder. If you are a woman with an annual income of around $25,000, one twenty fifth of this income will be spent paying the pink tax on essentials on top of their original price––which is all that men pay.

The problem extends beyond products

Services offered to both women and men also show discrepancies. In 2016, CBS News sent one man and one woman from their staff undercover in New York City to numerous dry cleaners. The results found that over half of the dry cleaners they went to, the woman staff member was charged at least twice as much to dry clean the same clothes. The same goes for car servicing. In another study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, men and women participants went into car repair shops to receive a quote for their cars. The female caller was charged around 20 dollars more than the male caller. These discrepancies made towards women continue to facilitate inequality and only add to the challenges women face in our society.