The pink tax is the extra amount of money that women pay for similar consumer products marketed to men.

Over their lifespan, women are paying thousands of dollars more than men for products that are alike.

So not only are females getting paid 20 percent less than men, but they are being charged more for products that are geared towards them.

According to The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, they compared 800 products from more than 90 brands and reported that products specifically geared toward women are pricier 42 percent of the time.

There is a gender pricing difference in clothes, accessories, personal care products, feminine hygiene products and senior home health care products.

Unfortunately, the unfair gender-based pricing does not discriminate age.

Based on the study’s findings, apparel for girls cost more than those for boys. For example, onesies that are specifically for infant girls cost four percent more and girls shirts cost 13 percent more than those for boys.

Sad isn’t it?

Pink toys and accessories were often found to cost more due to the color.

It was also found that women spend around 13 percent more when purchasing essentials such as shampoo, deodorant, razors, and body wash.

According to the DCA, shampoo and conditioner had the highest cost rate for women at 48 percent. Along with razors that cost women 11 percent more than it would for men.

It does not stop there. Home health care products are costing women 8 percent more.

On average, senior women supports and braces had a 15 percent higher rate compared to those for men and a 12 percent increase in price for women’s canes.

Unfortunately, the pink tax has been around for a while.

DCA ran their own gender pricing study in 1992 and published a report entitled “Gypped by Gender.”

It revealed that women paid more than men for services at places like used car dealers, dry cleaners, launderers and even hair salons.

According to the study, it was noticed that women were twice as likely to be charged more when buying used cars. Also, 80 hair salons were surveyed and it was discovered that women paid 25 percent more for the same haircuts as men. Similarly, women paid 27 percent more for dry-cleaning a basic white cotton shirt.

The State of California conducted their own gender pricing study in 1994 and found women paid an annual “gender tax” of $1,351 each.

California became the first state to ratify a bill in 1995 in order to protect consumers from price discrimination for services. Unfortunately, even with the legislation and discussions about the so-called pink tax, it is still an ongoing issue.

The Pink Tax Repeal Act was introduced by California Democratic Rep Jackie Speier in 2016. Intended for normalizing prices of similar products.

But later that year the Democratic staff of the Joint Economic Committee basically disclosed their own gender tax study mentioning everything from taxes to price fixing as the reasons behind the price increases.

Just because the packaging is visually appealing with pink and glitter all over it, it should not be a reason to charge extra for something that female consumers did not really ask for.

It is frustrating to think that females can get the exact same service as a male such as buying a used car or getting clothes dry-cleaned and get charged extra merely based on gender.

Gender based pricing is one of the many issues that is yet to be tackled.