What is the pink tax? History, impact and why it matters

What is the pink tax?

You’re scrolling through an online retailer, browsing everyday products. You select two five-blade razors from the same company: One razor, marketed to women, comes in pink and averages $5.14 per razor. The other box, in shades of blue and black, averages $4.03 per razor.

Many women don’t ask for products to come in pink packaging – and they don’t deserve to pay more for comparable items. If you’ve noticed a razor marketed to women costing more than a similar men’s version, you’ve seen an example of the “pink tax”: the extra amount women may pay for everyday products and services such as razors, haircuts and even dry cleaning.

In addition, many states exempt essentials like food from general sales tax, but some still apply sales tax to menstrual products like tampons and pads. This pricing discrepancy is often called the “tampon tax.” As of July 2026, more than a third of U.S. states apply sales tax to menstrual products while exempting certain other necessities.

“While some states have certain preventive policies in place, there are currently no federal policies that prohibit gender-based price discrimination,” said Allyson Davis, deputy head of J.P. Morgan’s Office of Women's Affairs. “In tandem with the fact that women statistically live longer than men, women often end up paying much more for gender-based products over the course of a lifetime. For example, some estimates suggest women in California alone were paying roughly $2,300 more for goods and services in a year as a result of gender-based marketing and pricing. Not only is this fundamentally unfair, but it can impede many women's long-term investing and wealth management goals.”

The pink tax can also shape how some women think about spending, saving and investing.

“Like many other things in life, it comes down to your long-term vision for financial health,” Davis said. “Leading with the question, ‘What could I do with the money saved from this transaction?’ not only puts into perspective how much gender-based pricing costs women over a lifetime, but your answers to this question can help you stay the course for meeting your financial goals. Whether you'd like to save that money or put it to work in a portfolio is up to you – that's what makes having a financial plan in place and the right team to help you crystallize and execute it so important.”

History of the pink tax

Gender-based pricing and marketing have existed for decades. Gendered packaging and product placement are often used to signal who a product is “for” – for example, products targeted to men are often in dark-colored, boxy packaging explicitly marked “for men,” while products targeted to women may be packaged in light-colored containers and include appearance-focused messaging. This trend of gendered packaging has persisted and, in some cases, has been associated with price disparities.

In the 1990s, research and advocacy in California highlighted how gender-based pricing could add up over time. That momentum helped lead to California’s Gender Tax Repeal Act of 1995, which prohibits businesses from charging different prices for services of a similar or like kind based on gender.

A 2015 study by New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs found that, across nearly 800 gender-specific products from more than 90 brands, personal care products marketed toward women were 13% more expensive than similar men’s products. Other research has found notable price differences in some services as well – for example, studies have found women pay more, on average, for the identical service of laundering a basic white cotton shirt.

More recent research suggests the current reality is more nuanced. A 2023 Marketing Science study found meaningful price differences across gendered personal care products overall, but little evidence of a systematic price premium for women when comparing substantially similar products with similar ingredients.

In many cases, researchers point to differences in ingredients, product design and manufacturing costs as potential reasons for price differences.

Some states have made changes in recent years. At the start of 2023, Virginia and Iowa joined the ranks of states exempting certain personal hygiene products from sales tax. Some companies have also taken steps: CVS Health announced a price reduction on CVS-brand menstrual products and said it would absorb the sales tax in 12 states. Even so, price disparities and tax treatment vary widely – and advocates say there’s more work to do.

How gender-based pricing impacts people – and what to do about it

“It’s unacceptable to charge women and girls more for the same underlying products,” Davis said. “We must continue to talk about it and work to course-correct this system that perpetuates gender-based pricing.”

So what can you do about it? One approach is awareness: consumers and advocates have used social media hashtags such as #genderpricing, #pinktax and #AxThePinkTax to draw attention to the issue.

Beyond awareness, there are practical steps you can take – such as comparing unit prices and considering products marketed to men when they’re comparable.

Davis added, “There are savvy consumers who buy the men’s brand of shaving cream and other cosmetics because they are cheaper and have the same ingredients as the women’s brands.”

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