pink tax

The pink tax is the extra amount women often pay for products and services marketed to them, compared with near-identical versions for men. It isn’t an actual tax. It’s a price gap.

What the pink tax means

Think of a pink razor that costs more than the blue one next to it, or a women’s haircut priced higher than a men’s for the same length of hair. The name comes from how often the pricier version is pink.

The best-known study came from New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs in 2015. It found that products marketed to women cost about 7% more on average than similar products for men. The gap was widest for personal care items like razors and shampoo, at 13%, and the report’s most quoted example was a pink kids’ scooter priced at $49 next to an otherwise identical red one at $24.99.

Examples

• “Same razor, different color, two dollars more. That’s the pink tax.”
• “I buy the men’s version of everything now. The pink tax can’t get me.”
• “Why does dry-cleaning my shirt cost more than his? Pink tax.”

Where it came from

Dictionary.com says the phrase emerged in the 2010s and became a public issue by the middle of the decade. In 2015, California Congresswoman Jackie Speier introduced the Pink Tax Repeal Act in the US House, and she reintroduced it in 2019.

What causes it?

That’s debated. Many people see it as gender-based price discrimination. A paper from the consulting firm Cornerstone Research argued that the main cause is women choosing products that cost more to make. Either way, checking the “men’s” version of a product has become a standard money-saving tip.

Related terms

• Shrinkflation: same price, smaller product.
• Girl math: joking logic for justifying purchases.
• Loud budgeting: openly cutting back.
• De-influencing: talking people out of buying things.

More money words are in our work and money slang guide.