Introduction

For our signature project we choose health equity as our tenet and we decided that we would prove whether Pink Tax was a theory or not. According to Dictionary.com “Pink Tax” means extra charges placed on products and services directed toward women. There are many articles and studies that have been made to provide reasoning as to why prices are higher for women but it hasn’t been confirmed yet. Although there are many occasions where women pay more for things that they need we specifically focus on hygiene products and birth control like razors.

Introduction

There has been a great amount of research conducted on the “Pink Tax”. Multiple studies show that women are paying more than men 42% of the time or about $1,351 more a year. Things such as pads for women are charged sales tax because they are considered luxury items when they are certainly not. Accord to “USA Today” in late 2015 the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs published a study that compared nearly 800 products from 90 different brands. This study showed that on average women's products cost 7% more than comparable Men’s products. The “Pink Tax” in many people’s opinion is not fair and they think it should be removed, in the United Kingdom they held protest against the “Tampon Tax”. In the near future we should see some changes within the “Pink Tax” to make things equal for men and women.

The History

The unequal pricing of Pink Tax starts at childbirth. Studies have shown that pink bottles, onesies and pacifiers cost four percent more than the boys blue or black ones. Girls shoes are three percent more, Girls shirts are 13 percent more and Girls jeans are eight percent more. This inequality is nothing new. Some scholars say that gender inequality has been going on since the days of the bible. In 1994 there was a survey about product pricing that found women spent at least $1,351 more per year than man on similar goods and services which in today’s money amounts to $2,188. Items such as tampons and pads are taxed more because it is considered to be a “luxury item”. In 1996 California passed a gender discrimination law that prevents businesses from charging women more for their products. The consequence is that they will be charged a minimum fee of $1000.

Impact

The pink tax further contributes to the economic inequality between men and women. Paying more for goods just because they are marketed to women when women already earn less than men means men hold the majority of the buying power in the economy. "The so-called 'pink tax' has been observed in numerous media reports, and extends beyond products purchased in stores or online to services and financial services transactions that cost women more than men," according to a summary of the report.

Women have been discriminated against and mistreated for centuries. They have made many strides to be equal with men but they still are facing some inequalities. Some men often say the pink tax is not real, saying that women are delusional. This is similar to men discrediting the wage gap. Between the wage gap and the pink tax women are being still mistreated.

Sources

Archive.star.txstate.edu/node/4539.html. www.listenmoneymatters.com/the-pink-tax/.

Courseinfo.wssu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=129621045&site=ehost-live.

Usnews.com.https://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/2016-02-17/the-pink-tax-why-womens-products-often-cost-more

www.healthline.com/health/the-real-cost-of-pink-tax#1.

www.businessinsider.com/womens-Products-more-expensive-than-mens-2015-4.

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