Always Buy the Men’s Version

Check out the price difference between these two scooters at Target! It may be a particularly egregious example, but the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs found an average 7% average cost difference in products labeled for men and for women when they surveyed nearly 800  gendered consumer products. The pink version will cost you more, even when controlled for quality. Now, about those scooters…

A Target spokesperson said the company lowered the price of the pink scooter after the report was released Friday, calling the discrepancy a "system error." (The retailer blamed the same kind of glitch last year after catching heat for selling black Barbies at more than double the price of white Barbies.)
When asked about the price differences of other gendered toys — like the Raskullz shark helmet ($14.99) and the Raskullz unicorn helmet ($27.99) or the Playmobil pirate ship ($24.99) and the Playmobil fairy queen ship ($37.99) —  the representative pointed to a company statement, declining to elaborate: "Our competitive shop process ensures that we are competitively priced in local markets. A difference in price can be related to production costs or other factors."  

The “gender tax” holds up across product categories. Women pay more for clothing, razors, deodorant, automobiles, and services like haircuts and dry cleaning. Read more about the “gender tax” at the Washington Post.