The Pink Tax: Cut the Gendered Pricing
Taxes. Everyone and their mothers absolutely dread even thinking about taxes, let alone paying them. Oh well, your mom has to. It is called the Pink tax. The Pink tax refers to the extra amount tacked on to what women are charged for on particular products and/or services. (It is not a literal tax but it is the price difference in what is fundamentally the same exact product or service but marketed towards women.) Things like dry cleaning, personal care products, and vehicle maintenance costs noticeably more than what men have to pay. Not only is it upsetting to think about, but it is completely absurd due to the fact that women earn less and have to pay more. For half of Kentucky’s population, the Pink
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The inequality of pay between a man and a woman grows when the woman's race is taken into consideration, statistically, white women earn seventy-eight cents, African-American women earn sixty-four cents and Latina women earn fifty-six cents for every dollar earned by a white man as stated on www. whitehouse.gov. This significant wage gap is not just a bunch of numbers -- it has real life consequences that affect real life women: women with growing children to feed, women of color, disabled women, aging women longing retirement, and your own …show more content…
People will say, “Why don’t you just buy the men’s products?” With this thinking, it beats around the bush and avoids the problems at hand. If one were to execute a solution of the Pink tax, genderless products like unisex razors and deodorants would be created. Instead of questioning women about their purchases of men’s products, question why there is gendered products at all. These products are necessities and the only justifiable difference between a man’s product and a woman’s product is just based on the fact of pink or feminine packaging and the targeted
The gender wage gap in America is a social problem that has existed since women entered the workforce. According to the National Committee on Pay Equity, for every dollar earned by a man, a woman made 78.3 cents in 2013 (Leon-Guerrero, 2016). Data from 1983 to 1998 and concluded that women workers in their prime earning years make 38% of what men make. During the 15-year period, an average prime-age working woman earned only $273,592 compared with $722,693 earned by the average working man in 1999 (Leon-Guerrero, 2016). The wage gap affects women of color in a more profound way that it does non-hispanic white women. Hispanic women are making 53%, African American women are making 64%, and Asian American women are making 87% of white men’s earnings each year (AAUW, 2013).
“Join the union, girls, and together say Equal Pay for Equal Work” -Susan B. Anthony. Countless women, even here in the U.S. have some sort of the wage gap. The wage gap is the difference between the median earnings of women relative to median earnings of men. In this case, women earn a significant amount less than men. Although the wage gap has gotten smaller over the years, the wage gap still has a long way to go. Women deserve better than just minimum earnings. Full time, working women should obtain the best promotions and benefits. Women that work just as tough and have the equivalent qualifications as men do still earn less, and that is just unacceptable. The wage gap should be abolished on behalf of women of color and their struggle, equal pay is a global problem, equal pay benefits employers and workers, and the wage gap accumulates over time.
Currently the average woman continues to be paid .77 cents for every dollar the average man earns. When we figure race into the equation it becomes even more distressing; African American women earn just .64 cents and Hispanic women only earn .55 cents compared to the average white male. The poorest in the American economy are disproportionately women and especially women of color (Ehrenreich). Closing the wage gap between men and women would cut the poverty rate in half, and would add nearly half a trillion dollars to the American
Overview: Men make more money the women doing the same job, even though, women hold 70% of jobs (Flander, p. 20-22). For every dollar a white man makes women make 77 cents, black women make 64 cents, and Latinas make 56 cents, that’s just for independant women, women with families make even less than that.
The “Pink Tax,” the bane of women everywhere, and especially in corporate America. Women’s products and health lies in the hands of corporations who charge more for products geared towards women than their male counterparts. This is usually by a few cents on the dollar, but keep in mind that women are paid less than men. So, this can add up over time, and cause many frustrations.
Menstruation is nearly a universal life experience for all females. The average woman uses approximately 12,000 to 15,000 non-reusable feminine hygiene products in their lifetime (Weir, 2015). Moreover, women spend around 7 dollars on average for a box of tampons on a monthly basis (Durkin, 2017). This cost does not include additional state government imposed taxes on feminine hygiene products which adds an additional economic burden. In Michigan, tampons are classified as “optional luxury items” by the General Sales Tax Act and there is an imposed tax of 6% on top of the purchase price (S.B. 0091, 2017). According to the Senate Committee on Finance, this sales tax
A woman today makes 77 cents to a man's dollar. That pay gap has held steady for the past decade. Then within minority groups the pay gap is even worse, African-American women earn 69 cents for every dollar paid to African-American men, and Latinas earn just 58 cents on the dollar compared to Latino men. This proves that women, although making great strides in the workplace, still make only a fraction of what their male counterparts earn. According to whitehouse.gov, a government sponsored website that provides national stats, women have made great progress in the workforce by accounting for nearly 47% employed people in the United States. Women hold roughly 50% of jobs even though they only make up 47% of the workforce compared to 31% in 1964 . This fact shows that women are more likely to work more than one job due to the massive wage gap between genders. According to the Bureau of Labor statistics (2015), white males make an average of about 9,000 dollars a year more compared to caucasian women, and 15,000 dollars more than african american women. These facts prove that there is racism and discrimination present in the workforce and that it is negatively impacting the working people of America and other countries around the
On average, American women earn 80 cents to every dollar that an American man earns, and the gap for African American women is even larger. According to the textbook, there are four main reasons the pay gap persists those are: “Women are concentrated in lower paying jobs, Women enter the labor force at different and lower-paying levels than men, Women as a group have less education and experience than men; therefor, they are paid less, and women tend to work less over time (pg. 231, Stanely, Zinn, and Smith).” While this is factual information it does not explain why men and women with the same education, work history, skills, and previous experiences have a difference in pay. It is time we fix not only the pay
According to The National Organization for Women, women only make 77 cents per dollar a man makes, this can cause women to stay in unhealthy and abusive relationships because they are financially depended on their spouse or boyfriend. There is a 9.4% pay gap between men and women, this causes many women to feel angry and that there is a social injustice that they want to change. Women do the same work as men and only earn 77 per dollar simply because she is a woman. This results in women making thousands of dollars less than a
The “Pink Tax” is when women pay more than men for the same product. Typically the only difference between the women’s versions and the men’s is the scent or the glittery pink or purple packaging, hence the name the “Pink Tax”. The “tax” comes in all shapes and sizes, from deodorant and personal care items, to clothing and services, and even children’s toys and products. This is a very common occurrence and it has been shown to cost women more than $1000 more a year. This could be a result of companies taking advantage and capitalizing on women and their willingness to pay more for pink. However it could also be a deeper rooted problem with societal gender roles. Because gendered pricing has been costing women extra money for
Throughout the United States, the wage gap varies, likely due to increases and decreases in sexism throughout different regions. Women earn an average of as much as ninety percent of a male’s wages in the District of Columbia and as low as sixtyfive percent in Louisiana. Additionally, the gap increases based on the minority of races, bringing in the racism factor. Latina women earn the least compared to caucasian males at fifty four percent and Asian Americans at the highest with ninety percent (Hill). The gap also varies based on the career field the individuals are working in.
From looking at charts for 2013, women make approximately 78.3% of men's salary, not even counting the comparisons of racially discriminated incomes. In 1970, women only made 59.4% the income of what men made, again not comparing race. As you can see the percentage of women's income compared to men's has only gone up 18.9%. These statistics show that men get paid more than women for doing the same job. There
For example, on Target.com, a basic stick of Old Spice deodorant, which is made for men, is $2.54. While a basic stick of Secret deodorant, which is made for women, is $3.99. Even something like a plain white t-shirt costs more for women. A white t-shirt for men is roughly $9.00, while a white t-shirt for women costs $10.00. Women also have to buy more items than men do, for example women have menstrual periods and have to buy things for that. According to the Huffington Post, a woman will spend an average of $18,171 in her life due to menstrual
1. Even though America has come a long way in equality, the race for job equality is not fulfilled quite yet. 2Accoring to Neil Kokemuller, an active business man, men accurately make 77 cents more to the dollar than women who have the exact same job. (2016) 3. “The average American man makes 70-80% more money, doing the exact same jobs as the American woman.”(regender.org 2015) 4. This incredible jump in pay also influences the idea that the majority of women in America are living in poverty. 5According to Stephanie Cholensky, “The United states currently ranks 65th in pay equality.”(Cholensky, 2015) 6 Women who work just as hard as men but do not get payed the amount is a prime example of gender discrimination. 7Maybe women wouldn’t be so
Today the issue is clear, that for far too long men have controlled what should fall under the category of nonessential and is then subject to sales tax (Spacek). This is all changing. As women are becoming more involved in politics, they are making their voices heard (Spacek). For men feminine hygiene products are not essential, so it is easy to see why they would think this way, but they are simply