The term pink tax refers to the tendency for products marketed towards women to be more expensive than those marketed towards men. This means that women tend to pay more for hygiene products, apparel, children’s toys, haircuts, and more.
In an article written by Brianna Taylor on mydoh.ca it’s mentioned that products marketed towards women cost 7 per cent more than similar products marketed towards men. This is a perfect example of pink tax. Pink tax has been around for years. The term was coined in the 1990’s and has affected women all over the world. Women are stereotyped to be avid shoppers and companies use that stereotype to create a pink tax to gain more money from consumers.
Even though women are expected to pay more for things because of pink tax they are still paid less than men. A 2021 study conducted by Statistics Canada shows that women aged 25 to 54 earn 89 cents for every dollar earned by men.
Most of the products affected by pink tax are products labelled as necessities such as body wash, razors, shampoo, conditioner, and deodorant. A 2021 study conducted by the Canadian media scraping company Parsehub found that women pay up to 51 per cent more on deodorant and 65 per cent more on body wash.
Pink tax can be frustrating for many women. Female students and women who have lower incomes may feel the effects of pink tax more than others. “As a college student it is already financially difficult, so pink tax really adds more unnecessary stress on,” says Sophie Breault a female student from Sheridan College.
There is a way to avoid pink tax, which are buying men’s products or buying unisex products that aren’t targeted towards one gender. There are also ways to fight pink tax, like raising awareness and advocating for change by signing petitions set out to get rid of pink tax.
Pink tax Info by Allison Sippel