The gender surcharge

Welcome back, pricing people! To mark International Women’s Day and International Month of the Woman, we’re lifting the veil on a pricing phenomenon that hits half the population right in the wallet. Let’s talk about the cost of womanhood.

Whether it’s a conscious pricing strategy or systemic gender inequality, the data doesn’t lie – women are paying more.

Dirty tactics on toiletries

In the UK, research has shown that this discrepancy amounts to £4.34 billion more being spent than men on essential items, which works out to approximately £126 per woman annually. The differences span products from shampoo to razors, but one of the biggest culprits was shower gel with a whopping 482% difference between products targeted at men and women. Nearly five times the price for essentially the same product in a different bottle.

Uniformly Expensive

And the problem starts long before adulthood. British parents have reported paying up to £30 more for girls’ school uniform, compared to boys, despite the products being largely identical aside from design.

Meanwhile, in the States, CNN reports women are paying 50% more for a standard haircut than men. Seems the only thing getting a bigger cut than your hair is your wallet.

Big Ticket, Bigger Bill

The so-called “pink tax” extends far beyond beauty products and clothing. It creeps into big-ticket items too. According to research from Jerry’s, women are quoted about $117 more than men when buying a new car and $23 more than men for the same auto repair. Overall, the average woman pays $142 more per year on car ownership than a man, and can pay between $300 and $7,800 more over the lifespan of a car.

In the pricing world, we often talk about value-based pricing, but there’s nothing valuable about paying more for the same product. If your pricing strategy doesn’t discriminate, make sure your customers know it. Now that’s something worth celebrating.

Until next time, power to you pricing people!