Students push for gender-based pricing ban in Washington state

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington state is now trying to do away with the so-called ‘Pink Tax’ or gender-based pricing, thanks to a group of high school students who have brought forward a new bill.

The Pink Tax refers to the idea that some products cost more for women than men, including razors, deodorant, body wash, feminine products and even car insurance.

A group of students from Lake Washington High School are behind the bill, which aims to ban gender-based pricing across the state. If the legislation passes, retailers would be unable to sell products or services at different prices based on gender.

In 2020, the Washington state legislature passed a bill that exempted sales and use taxes for feminine hygiene products.

The bill discussed in a public hearing on Monday would affect the pricing of many more products.

“Past studies have found this issue disproportionately affects women, though it can happen to men as well, which is all the more reason to address it,” said Gabrielle Heuer, a student at LWHS. “To be clear, the intention of this law is not to needlessly regulate the economy, but rather to prevent discrimination.”

A 2018 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office says no federal law currently prevents firms from charging different prices for men’s and women’s products.

While the office couldn’t definitively conclude there was a Pink Tax on women’s products, it did observe that women’s versions of several types of personal care products sold at a “statistically significant higher average price” than versions of those products marketed towards men.

Some retailers have already taken action against gender-based pricing, including CVS, which said it plans to reduce prices on its store-brand menstrual products nationwide.

State Senator Manka Dhingra is sponsoring the bill, which is based on similar legislation previously passed in New York and California.

According to Dhingra, the law wouldn’t affect products marketed to women with a legitimate reason to be more expensive, such as using more expensive ingredients.

“There is absolutely no reason why one product should be more expensive than the other when they do not have different ingredients,” said Dhingra. “Frankly, we should be more inclusive than simply pink or blue.”

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