What Is the Pink Tax? Definition, Causes, Impact on Women

What Is the Pink Tax?

By Kristi Waterworth – Updated Sep 6, 2025 at 3:28 PM

Key Points

Pink tax increases costs for women on similar goods compared to men, affecting budget management.
Tariffs, product differentiation, and price sensitivity are key drivers behind the pink tax.
Legislation against pink tax exists in CA, NY, and Miami-Dade, but no federal law has passed.

There are lots of buzzwords that get thrown around these days, and some are far more meaningful than others. The so-called "pink tax" is a real phenomenon that creates further disparity in income for women across the globe.

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A woman puts products in her shopping basket. — Image source: Getty Images.

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About the Author

Kristi Waterworth has been a contributing real estate and financial expert at The Motley Fool, covering real estate, investing, and personal finance topics, since 2020. Kristi has been interviewed by various TV media outlets and podcasts for her real estate investing expertise – from residential real estate to digital real estate and everything in between. Kristi’s journalist career spans over 25 years, and she has written about real estate investing, homeownership, and home construction specifically for the last decade. She was also previously a licensed Realtor and general building contractor before the Great Recession and housing market collapse. She holds a bachelor’s degree in American history from Columbia College in Missouri.

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What are the causes of the pink tax?

The pink tax is caused by a number of different factors, which include:

Tariffs. According to a 2016 report by the Congressional Joint Economic Committee, tariffs can be massively influential to the pink tax. It notes that women's clothing imports, on average, were taxed at a higher rate than men's clothing, even for similar products. Women, of course, then have that tax passed on to them by manufacturers and retailers.

Product differentiation. Making products that are the same but look different has additional costs associated with it. Although it might make more sense to spread the cost across all the products in the same line regardless of color, the smaller runs of things (like pink razors) generally bear the brunt of the extra cost.

Price sensitivity. Women seem to be less price-sensitive when it comes to products they need, which has led to companies charging as much as they think they can for those items. Whether it's a toy that's pink vs. blue or a personal grooming product that's floral scented vs. smelling like a pine tree, those additional dollars can really eat into a person's budget.

Price fixing. As much as we may not like the idea of it, price fixing still exists, especially in limited markets. When a large retailer or manufacturer sees that women will pay more for a competitor's product, they can cause the cost of all products in a particular industry to rise, leaving women with no affordable options. This may happen at the national or local level.

How much are women affected by the pink tax?

It's difficult to know for certain to what extent women are affected by the pink tax at this moment since it's not a frequently revisited subject. The California Senate Committee on Judiciary and Senate Select Committee on Women, Work & Families found that in 2020, women in California paid almost $2,400 more for the same goods and services as their male counterparts. A 2015 study by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs found that women in New York City paid an average of 7 percent more than men for similar products.

What Is the Pink Tax?

Key Points