Is There a Pink Tax?
Posted on September 20, 2018
We’ve reported on the pay gap between men and women and on women’s lower retirement income compared to men’s.
Is there also a “Pink Tax,” where women’s products cost more than men’s? Today’s WatchBlog looks at our recent report on gender-related price differences. Listen to our podcast on some of the price differences we explored, then read on for more.
What we found
To explore the issue, we looked at prices for 10 categories of personal care products—things like deodorants, shaving creams, razors, and fragrances. We chose these categories because we found that firms make slight alterations to the products—different scents, colors, sizes—to differentiate them for men and women.
After controlling for product size and other factors that may have explained some of the price differences, we found:
- Prices for five of the personal care items we looked at were higher for women: underarm and body deodorants, shaving cream, designer perfume, and body sprays.
- Two men's items cost more: nondisposable razors and shaving gel.
- There was no clear difference for 3 other products—disposable razors, razor blades, and mass market perfumes.
- Questions on the content of this post? Contact Alicia Puente Cackley at CackleyA@gao.gov.
- Comments on GAO’s WatchBlog? Contact blog@gao.gov.