Pink tax is a form of price discrimination that impacts the personal budgets and lifestyles of millions of women every year but is not a federal tax that can affect income tax collection.
The term “pink tax” is frequently used to describe the government’s sales tax on menstrual goods like tampons and feminine pads. For many women, these feminine hygiene products are necessary. Yet, a lot of states tax feminine products as luxury items while exempting food and medicine from sales tax.
The higher cost on female products and other goods marketed to women has been dubbed the “pink tax” because males typically do not pay the same high pricing for their personal care items. Pink, why? Indeed, pink is the color that is frequently used by producers to sell goods and brands intended for women. Examples of pink tax are high prices of toys or equipment marketed to girls, such as pink bikes, scooters, and helmets that cost more than identical blue or black bikes; high prices of personal hygiene products designed for men; high prices of dry cleaning or sewing of women’s clothing; higher prices and often smaller sizes of products such as razor blades, shampoo, and women’s deodorant.
According to studies, women may suffer practical, physical, and monetary costs as a result of gender price discrimination. According to data from the Economic Policy Institute, women still make around 20% of what males make. Comparable data from other studies demonstrates that women are more likely than men to spend money on needs including housing, clothing, and health care.
The idea behind the “pink tax” is to encourage the sale of products sold to female consumers at costs significantly higher than those advertised to male consumers. These strategies are based on psychological trends, buying behavior, and interests.
In conclusion, the perception that women’s items must cost more in order to live up to social expectations is reinforced by cultural norms, which serves to perpetuate socially created ideas of what “women” should be.