The Pink Tax

We’re Gonna Talk About It Podcast
Episode 20: The Pink Tax

The Pink Tax is an all too real economic phenomenon used by marketing companies, the pharmaceutical and health care industries and many more of the complexes that run our day to day consumer life to unfairly and arbitrarily inflate prices of everyday products marketed as “for women”.

On average, products that are for both genders but are specifically marketed to women by making the item pink or otherwise “feminizing” the packaging charge on average %13 more than the products “for men”, for instance, shaving razors or body washes.

How do they get away with it? Products marketed to perceive feminine sensibilities are considered “luxury” and “non-essential” and therefore are priced higher.

This inequity is also evident in medicine and necessary health needs. For instance, medically necessary products such as prescription drugs are tax-exempt as are some predominantly male focused products like Rogaine and Viagra. Yet, 35 states still charge sales tax on tampons and pads. Feminine hygiene products are used by over half of the population for an actual body function, they should probably be considered “essential”.

Annually, the pink tax costs about $ 2,300.00 in overpayment for everyday items.

Broken down even further, this means that every month, a woman spends almost $200.00 extra on daily items. That’s two hundred dollars that could be going to retirement, other financial nest eggs, or buying a home.

Coupled with the gendered pay gap, the pink tax doubles down on women’s economic inequity and provides more barriers to women actually building wealth.

Interestingly, this is hardly a hidden secret. Mager retailers routinely price “men’s” and “women’s” items side by side with the price difference clearly indicated. Makes it even more insulting, wouldn’t you say?

Tom McDermott on Twitter: “Hey Ace, tell me what’s wrong with this picture. @AceHardware #pinktax https://t.co/l4kqZUu6ky” / Twitter

Feel free to look for these inequities at your local stores and post your findings on your socials with the hashtag #axthepinktax and call out these companies for gender bias in pricing.

For more on gender inequity and the wage gap, be sure to check out both episodes 19 and 20 of “We’re Gonna Talk About It” and be sure to sign up for volunteer opportunities and ways YOU can be a warrior for pay equity here: Your Impact | Rock What You Got™ (rockwhatyougotlive.com)

As always, let us know what you think at [email protected] and as always, thanks for listening!