The Toronto Star spoke with Associate Professor June Cotte about the issue of a “pink tax” to address unequal gender-based pricing where women end up paying thousands of dollars more for goods and services than men.
A recent study done by New York City’s department of consumer affairs examined the prices of 800 products with clear male and female versions and found that products for women cost seven per cent more than similar products for men and, 42 per cent of the time, women’s products were priced higher.
Cotte spoke to the idea of women paying more for almost identical products, using the example of pink and turquoise razors for women costing more than plain ones for men.
“What you will still find — and it won’t take long to find — are gendered products that are arguably not exactly the same thing, but they are the same. And they will be different prices,” said Cotte.
