The Women’s Tax: Women Charged More for Same Products!

In the video below by “The Daily Share,” writer Jon Sarlin explains that women often pay more than men for the exact same products, just because they’re women.

Women don’t just earn less than men. A 1995 study by the State of California found that women pay on average $1,351 more per year than men for similar products. The price tag gender gap seems to be still going strong. The Schick Hydro 5 razor for men costs $8.56. A version of the same razor for women called the Schick Hydro Silk retails for $9.97. That’s a price hike of 16.5%.

A cologne called Narciso Rodriguez for Him costs $87. A perfume by the same company called Narciso Rodriguez for Her runs $106.60. A 22.5% price boost.

Neutrogena Men’s Age Fighter Moisturizer costs $14.99, while Neutrogena Anti-Wrinkle cream for women costs $21.99. Neutrogena reached out to the video’s creators and said the two products they mentioned aren’t exactly the same. The product that best matches the men’s Age Fighter Moisturizer is called Neutrogena Healthy Skin Anti-Wrinkle Cream. However, even in these two products the gender price tag gap persists. The men’s product costs $10.35 per ounce, while the women’s costs $11.32.

There is some good news for women. In the past, women paid a total of $1 billion more for health insurance than men did. In 2010 however, the Affordable Care Act banned gender-based pricing. While the new law wiped out the differences in traditional health coverage for women, it didn’t equalize all health insurance rates. For long term care, women still pay an average of 13% more than men do. Health insurance companies claim this is because women live longer than men. The video points out that smokers pay more for health insurance too, but that while people choose to smoke, they don’t choose their gender.

Women pay more for haircuts too. The national average price for a men’s haircut is $28, while the national average for a women’s haircut is $44.

The video makers do point out one product that’s the same regardless of gender. The same unisex American Apparel shirt costs $74.99 regardless of gender. However, when they spilled a beverage on both shirts and took them to the same dry cleaner, the woman paid 25 cents more to get her shirt cleaned. Her receipt read, “Lady Shrt.”

California is currently the only state that bans gender pricing discrimination.

For more on gender discrimination in the economic world, check out our article, “Women Still Don’t Make as Much Money as Men.”