The Gender Pay Gap and Its Connection to the Pink Tax

Men and women have fought for equality many times in the past, and there is a new calling for equality. Now the calling for equality is in the system of consumerism. The Pink Tax is wreaking havoc on women everywhere. The Pink Tax is the extra amount women are charged for certain products or services. This extra cost for women is unfair and unfavored and is happening more than people know. This Pink tax is a gender tax that discriminates against women in the system of consumerism. Price regulation is one step that can be taken to help these women. Price regulation is defined as the policy of setting prices by a government agency, legal statute, or regulatory authority. Prices for male and female products of the same quality and quantity should be the same. If prices become the same for these products, it can eliminate the Pink tax.

The different prices are unfair for women. Women pay more for their products but are paid less. There is a price gap when it comes to men’s and women’s pay. ¨Full-time working women earn only about 78% of what their male counterparts earn¨ (Hill para.1). The price gap never goes away, women. In fact, it only gets larger. ¨In general, the White House estimates that women get paid 77 cents on the dollar compared with men, despite the Equal Pay Act of 1963; the gap is even greater for African-American (64 cents on the dollar) and Latina women (56 cents on the dollar). That means women have to work approximately 60 extra days, or about three months, to earn what men earned by the end of the previous year¨ (Fottrell para.3). If women are being paid less than men, then why are earth are they being charged more for their products. Women make less than men annually but have more expenses for the same products. ¨The American Association of University Women, using data from the American Community Survey, found that female full-time employees only earned 79 percent of the income pulled in by men last year¨ (LaPonsie para.9).

The products are the same in shape and size but not in color. How are pink six-bladed razors more than blue six-bladed razors? How are pink cotton shirts more than blue cotton shirts? The price differences for products that are blue versus pink are bigger than one would think. CBS News went undercover and found that gender price discrimination is not limited to retail. They had one male and one female go into a dry cleaner in New York City. These two undercover subjects both brought in 100 percent cotton button-down shirts of comparable size. They requested the same service, and the results are that the woman was charged $7.50, and her male counterpart was charged $2.85 (CBS NEWS para.2-4). That is almost a 5 dollar difference. This isn’t just at the dry cleaner. It happens when shopping for children’s toys, personal care products, and clothing.

Ian Ayres is a Yale Law School professor and the author of 11 books. He has found that women pay more for stool softeners just because they are pink. Ayers also has found many real-life examples and put them in his article. There are two scooters from Target, one pink and one red. The red one is $24.99, and the pink one is $44.99. It continues with two helmets, one girl’s and one boy’s helmet. The boy’s helmet is $14.99, and the girl’s helmet is $27.99. There are two pairs of jeans, One for men and one for women. The men’s jeans are $68, and the women’s jeans are $88. For the razors, women pay $3.50 more, and for 1 in 2 shampoos, and conditioner, women pay $.70 more. The amount of money might not sound like much, but the percentages are slightly mind-blowing. The girl’s helmet is 87 percent more, the jeans are 29 percent more, the razors are 23 percent more, and the shampoo and conditioner are 35 percent more (Ayers para.8-18).

Many articles found on the Pink tax use New York City Consumer Affairs study on gender pricing. This is one of few studies done on gender pricing. The New York City study uses 794 products, from 91 brands, from 24 stores. All of the data has shown that women pay 7 percent more for toys and accessories, 4 percent more for children’s clothing, 8 percent more for adult clothing, 13 percent more for personal care products, and 8 percent for senior/ home health care products (NYC Consumer Affairs 5). These differences may seem small, but they add up over time. Women pay an annual average of $1351 more than men because of the Pink tax (NYC Consumer Affairs 15). The extra amount of money women are paying is ludicrous. There is no federal or state law to regulate the gender pricing gap (Lee para.9). The prices women are paying are unfair and well hidden in stores.

Price discrimination happens in many places, and many people are unaware that it is happening. A huge part of fixing a problem is people knowing that it exists. If women don’t know that they are being charged extra, how do they know to fight against it? ¨Marks has been researching this issue for years. ‘You don’t realize how badly you’re getting ripped off or being taken advantage of, as a woman, because you’ve become so conditioned to pay more,’ he said¨ (CBS NEWS para.8). If no one knows there is a problem, then they can’t fix it. ¨Women, who statistically already make less money than men on average, may pay a premium for items marketed to them simply because they aren’t aware of this so-called “pink” tax.¨ (Taylor para.3). There are so many places where women are buying products that are more expensive and they have no idea. Places like Levis, Urban Outfitters, Target, Rite Aid, Walgreens, Club Monaco, and J. Crew all charge women more than men 50 percent or more of the time (Ayers para. 22-29).

One reason price discrimination is so easily hidden is that women’s and men’s products are placed separately in the store. The two genders are completely separate when it comes to shopping. Usually, the women’s section is on the opposite side of the store from the men’s. This makes it highly unlikely and very hard to compare prices. I have spoken to a few women to see how many people really know about the Pink tax. I interviewed a few people from school. Skylar Joseph said she had heard of the Pink tax but knew nothing specific about it (Joseph). I also spoke with Liberty Huff, and she told me that she did not know what the Pink tax is or anything specific about it (Huff). The last person I spoke with is Cameryn Cass. She had no idea what the Pink tax was, and she had never even heard of it (Cass). These three women do not know what the Pink tax is or how often it impacts their lives.

Society frowns upon discrimination, so why is it still allowed in the marketplace? Some people are already trying to fight discrimination ¨Women around the world are posting on social media under hashtags like #genderpricing, #pinktax, and #gendertax, calling for an end to luxury taxes on these products and gendered pricing in general. That step is needed, according to Steele. “Women need to call out companies and put the pressure on brands and retailers to fix the pricing,” she says.¨(Taylor para. 11).

Many educated people are telling women to stand up for themselves and end this discrimination. ‘It has to be a market response, a written campaign, vote with your purse and your pen — that’s what’s going to change it.’ (LaPonsie para. 22). Some people are trying to speak up now and need help.¨ My daughter and I have unsuccessfully sued McDonald’s franchises claiming, inter alia, that giving boys and girls different Happy Meal toys without asking about their preference violated Connecticut’s public accommodation law. We have argued for a multi-factored test for assessing whether gendered marketing should run afoul of our civil rights law¨ (Ayers para. 32). The fight right now is small and is slowly growing. There is so much more the world can all do.

On the other side, women pay more for many things, but not all things. Yes, men do pay more sometimes. Men pay more for things like car insurance and clothing at Old Navy. Just because men pay more for certain things does not make this discrimination okay. Men pay more about 18 percent of the time, while women pay more than 42 percent of the time (CBSNEWS para.5). These percentages are nowhere near equal. Another argument used is, ¨Why don’t women just buy men’s products if they are cheaper?¨ The answer is easy, women don’t want to smell musky or have a masculine scent. Women have the right to feminine products still.

Another argument I have heard is that women pay more because the products have more ingredients and pieces in them. The problem with this statement is that the Pink tax is about the products that are the same. The argument is not about fancy women’s shampoo versus men’s 78-cent shampoo. The Pink tax applies to products that are the exact same thing, except they are marketed towards women and are usually pink or another feminine color. As stated earlier, the Pink tax is defined as the extra amount women are charged for certain products or services. The products that are more expensive and are better quality are the exception to this argument. If products are of better quality, they should be more than those of lesser quality. The Pink tax is for the products that women share with men and somehow have to pay more.

In the end, price discrimination is unfair to women. They should not pay more for the same products when they are paid less to work. The Pink Tax and gender discrimination are very well hidden from the world. Stores find ways to separate men and women while they shop. Discrimination is also frowned upon by society and those who know it is happening. The annual fee for being a woman is $1351 (New York City Consumer Affairs 15). This is crazy and against most belief systems. No woman should be paying extra just to be a woman. Biology makes us into women and men, and no one should be punished for their biology. If everyone treats each other as enemies or strangers, everyone will become negative and angry. Society will not progress and become a better place. As society and the community grow, things change, and this is one thing that needs to be changed for the better of the community. Price regulation is the right way to handle getting rid of the Pink tax. The Pink tax has been cruel to women for too long. It is time to speak up and fight for what is right.

Work Cited

1. Hill, Catey. “6 Times It’s More Expensive to Be a Woman.” MarketWatch, MarketWatch, 12 Apr. 2016, 9:35, www.marketwatch.com/story/5-things-women-pay-more-for-than-men-2014-01-17.
2. Fottrell, Quentin. “Why Patricia Arquette Was Right about the Gender Pay Gap.” MarketWatch, MarketWatch, 23 Feb. 2015, 9:52, www.marketwatch.com/story/why-patricia-arquette-was-right-about-the-gender-pay-gap-2015-02-23.
3. CBS News. “CBS News Goes Undercover to Reveal Gender Price Discrimination.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 25 Jan. 2016, 6:59, www.cbsnews.com/news/price-discrimination-gender-gap-CBS-news-undercover-dry-cleaners/.
4. Ayres, Ian. “Which Retailers Charge the Largest ‘Pink Tax’?” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 7 Jan. 2016, 10:39, www.forbes.com/sites/whynot/2016/01/07/which-retailers-charge-the-largest-pink-tax/#13e90e01381b.
5. Lee, Rebecca. “Gender Price Gouging? How Products Aimed at Females Cost More.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 23 Dec. 2015, 1:46, www.cbsnews.com/news/gendered-pricing-gap-new-york-city-department-of-consumer-affairs/.
6. Taylor, Susan. “The Pink Tax: Why Women’s Products Often Cost More.” U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, 17 Feb. 2016, 11:16, money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/2016-02-17/the-pink-tax-why-women’s-products-often-cost-more.
7. LaPonsie, Maryalene. “5 Reasons Women Need to Save More for Retirement Than Men.” U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, 9 Oct. 2015, 9:56, money.usnews.com/money/retirement/articles/2015/10/09/5-reasons-women-need-to-save-more-for-retirement-than-men.
8. NYC Consumer Affairs. “From Cradle to Cane: The Cost of Being a Female Consumer.” From Cradle to Cane, NYC Consumer Affairs, Dec. 2015, www1.nyc.gov/assets/dca/downloads/pdf/partners/Study-of-Gender-Pricing-in-NYC.pdf.
9. Joseph, Skylar. ¨Personal Communication.¨ 4 Dec. 2018
10. Huff, Liberty. ¨Personal Communication.¨ 4 Dec. 2018
11. Cass, Cameryn. ¨Personal Communication.¨4 Dec. 2018

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