You probably think you know about all the taxes you pay. Income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes — it seems like the list is endless. But there’s one tax I’ve been paying for most of my life that you might not know about. If you’re a woman, chances are you’re paying it too.
It’s called the pink tax.
What is it? It’s the premium you pay for goods and services that are marketed to women, even when they’re identical to those sold as “men’s” products at a cheaper price. One study calculated this “tax” at an extra $1,400 a year.
You’ll find a lot of these items in drugstores — stuff like razors, deodorants, wrinkle creams, shaving creams, even pain killers. The pink tax also creeps in at dry cleaners, where a plain women’s white shirt often costs more than a man’s shirt, which is usually bigger and made from longer-lasting fabric.
High-end products are no exception. Manufacturers of scents charge less for men’s cologne than they do for ladies’ perfume — even though the ingredients are the same. Women’s plus-sized clothing costs more than the regular sizes. If you think it’s because more fabric is used, think again: Men’s plus sizes cost about the same as the smaller sizes.
It’s easy to see for yourself.
Researchers for Mic.com sampled a handful of common drugstore products. They found pink razors for $12.49, while blue razors from the same brand ran just $10.99. Women’s deodorant was $4.99. Men’s, only $3.29. And even though Excedrin Complete Menstrual contains the same ingredients as Excedrin Extra Strength, that “M” word costs half a buck extra for the same size bottle.
Twenty years ago, California did a study that uncovered lots of this gendered pricing, leading to a statute that outlawed the practice. But no other states followed suit, so women in the other 49 could be stuck paying more.
There’s one bit of good news. Before the Affordable Care Act, health insurance companies could and did charge women more for the exact same coverage men got. And not because of maternity coverage — that often wasn’t included in the policies at all. When Obamacare passed, sex discrimination in health insurance pricing became illegal.
But the pink tax is still very much alive. A nickel here and 50 cents there adds up to over a thousand bucks a year for the typical female shopper. And that’s real money.
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.