1 of 1 Photo: Getty Images
This is such great news! Businesses in California won't be able to raise prices on products that are aimed for women. This is known as the "Pink Tax" and it "refers to women's products marked with a higher price tag when the item is identical to a lower-priced men's item."
“Simply being a woman shouldn’t cost money – but it does,” said Holly Martinez, Executive Director of the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls. “Women pay roughly $1,300 a year that men don’t for the exact same products; with women as a whole making an average of 79 cents to every dollar a man makes, and women of color making even less, this isn’t a tax we can afford to ignore. Women make up as much as 85% of consumer purchases in the United States and the Pink Tax represents $1,300 that can’t go into a women’s retirement fund, toward home ownership, toward her education, or to feed her family.”
This usually happens based on a products color or packaging with shampoos, deodorants, soap, shaving razors and more. The bill was signed back on September 27th by Gov. Gavin Newsom and states that it "prohibits two 'substantially similar' products from the same company from being 'priced differently based on the gender of the individuals for whom the goods are marketed and intended." Below are examples of characteristics for "substantially similar" goods:
- no substantial differences in materials used during production
- intended use in similar
- functional design and features are similar
- brand is the same or both products are owned by the same individual or entity
With this bill being passed, California joins NY state in the Pink Tax ban. Click here for more.