A Gender Tax Study

The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs conducted a study of the gender pricing of toys, accessories, children's clothing, adult clothing, personal care prodcuts, and home health care products for seniors - i.e., consumer goods reflecting an average consumer lifecycle. About 800 products with male and female versions from more than 90 brands were compared. Here the key findings (via):

On average, women's products cost 7% more than similar products for men, specifically...
- 7% more for toys and accessories
- 4% more for children’s clothing
- 8% more for adult clothing
- 13% more for personal care products
- 8% more for senior/home health care products



Two examples: Schick Hydro cartridges, for instance, cost $14.99,- while Schick Hydro women cartridges cost $18.49,- Often it is not that obvious and price differences between products are due to differing quantities sold to men and women. Rite Aid Guards/Bladder Control Pads cost $11.99,- for men and women (i.e. male and female version) but the quantity differs (39 counts for women, 52 counts for men).

In other words, over the course of women's lives, they pay thousand of dollars more to purchase similar products than men do. The same is true for services. In 1994, the State of California studied gender-based pricing of services and estimated that women paid an "annual gender tax" of $1.351,- for the same services.

::: New York City Department of Consumer Affairs (2015). From Cradle to Cane: The Cost of Being a Female Consumer. A Study of Gender Pricing in New York City; 76 pages
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