Price Discrimination: Why Women Need Equal Rights

Editor: Anita Newkirk Hackney

Why does price discrimination still exist in the United States? There are six countries in the world that offer equal pay to women and have laws in place to protect them. Belgium, Denmark, France, Latvia, Luxembourg, and Sweden, which are all in Europe, offer equal pay to women unlike other countries like the United States. Unlike women in Europe, women in the United States are not enjoying their unequal treatment due to the pay gap and the added costs for feminine products like pads and tampons. 

Price discrimination adds more layers to the wage gap, which makes it harder for women who need to make ends meet. This discrimination is not affected by the coronavirus, but it does heighten it due to more than 6.03 million women losing their jobs. These are the reasons why women need equal rights. 

When it comes down to unemployment, women are the ones suffering the most during the pandemic.  Approximately more than 6.03 million women are unemployed during the pandemic, which is less than the recession in 2007-2009, but it still affects women in the long-run. That recession left approximately 15 million people unemployed. 

According to Samantha Schmidt from The Washington Post:

“The last time Americans faced an economic crisis, it was called a ‘Mancession.’ As millions of people lost their jobs in the Great Recession, 70 percent were men, many in construction and manufacturing. This time, as jobs losses linked to the coronavirus pandemic dwarf what the country experienced in the 2007-2009 crisis, the heaviest toll is falling on women. Waitresses, day-care workers, hairstylists, hotel maids and dental hygienists are among the 20.5 million people who watched their jobs vanish in April—the most devastating spike in unemployment since the Great Depression.” 

“[. . .] Women have never experienced an unemployment rate in the double digits since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began reporting data by gender in 1948—until now. At 16.2 percent, women’s unemployment in April was nearly three points higher than men’s, according to Labor Department rates released Friday. But a closer look shows deeper disparities.”

“Not only are women overrepresented in some of the hardest-hit industries, such as leisure and hospitality, health care and education, but women—especially black and Hispanic women—lost their jobs in those sectors at disproportionate rates. Before the pandemic, women held 77 percent of the jobs in education and health services, but they account for 83 percent of the jobs lost in those sectors, according to an analysis by the National Women’s Law Center. Women made up less than half of the retail trade workforce, but they experienced 61 percent of the retail job losses. Many of these women held some of the lowest-paying jobs—the cashiers, hotel clerks, office receptionists, hospital technicians, teachers’ aides.” 

“The pandemic has wiped out the job gains women made of the past decade, just months after women reached the majority of the paid U.S. workforce for only the second time in American history. Labor experts worry that even as states reopen, many workers, especially in leisure and hospitality, will continue to suffer cut hours, wages and tips. Low-wage workers, who are disproportionately female, will be the least likely to be rehired, economists say.”

“Even when men experienced the greatest initial job losses during the Great Recession, women took much longer to recover. Between June 2009 and June 2011, women lost 281,000 jobs while men gained 805,000. Those losses were driven by public-sector job cuts.” 

According to Erin Duffin from statista.com:

“In September 2020, the unadjusted unemployment rate of women in the United States stood at eight percent. This was a slight decrease from the previous month, when it stood at 9.1 percent.  [. . .] Unemployment in the United States is seen as a critical indicator of how the economy is doing. In 2010, for example, unemployment in the U.S. was at 9.6 percent due to the Great Recession—the highest figure since 1990. Since 2010, unemployment has been steadily falling as the economy has recovered, and even hit its lowest point since 1990 in 2019, at 3.7 percent. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, unemployment in April 2020 soared to its highest level since the Great Depression.”

And, if that’s not bad enough, women also have to deal with a wage gap that proves they are not equal.

According to Robin Bleiweis from americanprogress.com:

“[. . .] The most frequent way of discussing the wage gap, in terms of dollars and cents may unintentionally obscure the real impact on working women and their families. For context, a woman working full-time, year-round earned $10,194 less than her male counterpart, on average in 2018. If this wage gap were to remain unchanged, she would earn about $407,760 less than a man over the course of a 40-year career. Again, these earning gaps are larger for women of color.”

According to Samantha Schmidt from The Washington Post:

“A recent report from the NWLC found that nearly two-thirds of the 22.2 million workers in the country’s 40 lowest-paying jobs are women. It also found that more than two-thirds of mothers in the low-paid workforce are the sole or primary breadwinners for their families. Not only do women make about 82 percent of what men make, but they also have less savings. And time away from work tends to depress women’s wages, potentially exacerbating the country’s persistent gender pay gap, said Emily Martin, vice president for education and workplace at the NWLC. Many women were barely bringing in enough money to cover child-care costs.”

There are multiple setbacks holding women back. One is the wage gap, which offers a limited amount to women compared to men’s paychecks, and the other is the pink tax. Not only do women in the United States have to watch the cost of groceries and clothing add up, but have to deal with the so-called pink tax which attacks feminine products women need on a monthly basis.

According to Candice Elliott from Listen Money Matters:

“[. . .] So, things are not as bad as you might have thought. But even if women are making almost what men make, we’re still paying more for similar products and services.”

“What is the Pink Tax? The pink tax refers to the extra amount of money women pay for specific products or services. Sometimes you’ll see or hear it referred to as price discrimination or gender-pricing.”

“Frequently, especially when it comes to personal care products, there is no difference between the male version and the female version apart from different prices. The classic example is those razors for sale in most drug stores. No fancy moisturizing strip, no rust-free titanium, just a single blade. The ‘men’s’ version is blue, the ‘women’s’ version is pink. That’s the only difference, the color. But inevitably, the women’s version is more expensive than the men’s. But examples abound, and plenty of them cost women a lot more than a few cents in the drug store.”

“There has been a lot of research on the pink tax that found overall, women were paying more than men 42% of the time. How much more? About $1,300 more a year in extra costs. That’s $1,300 that can’t go into a woman’s retirement fund. And don’t forget, women live longer than men, so we need that retirement money!”

“Women being charged a higher price for things isn’t new. The sales tax system in the United States was created decades ago. Politicians had to decide which products would be subject to a sales tax and which would be tax-free. But things have changed since these decisions came about, and tax policies have not changed to reflect the times. Some things, like women’s clothing, have higher tariffs when imported abroad than do men’s clothing. Manufacturers of consumer goods like those razors claim that the cost of product design and marketing for women’s products cost more, and they pass those costs down to the female consumers.”

Women cannot avoid the pink tax. They have no choice to pay for tampons and pads when their menstrual cycle starts. The pink tax considers tampons and pads as “luxury items”, although they are anything but a luxury. This tax shows just how unequal things are for women and how much they have to pay to get necessary items. 

Women need equal rights because it is unjust and wrong to rob them of their rights based on their gender. They are suffering from unemployment due to the pandemic just as males are; but unlike men, they are not likely to be rehired once the pandemic is over. It is unfair women are being paid less for the same jobs as men due to the wage gap, and it’s not right to be taxed on products the female population sorely need like clothes and feminine products. Now more than ever, women need to fight back against the oppression to get the items they need for their “time of the month” and the equal pay they sorely need.