[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 57 (Thursday, March 31, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H4010-H4011]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          REPEAL THE PINK TAX

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Speier) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, on the very last day of Women's History 
Month, I want to draw attention to the fact that there is an insidious 
form of gender discrimination that goes on in this country from cradle 
to grave. It is called the pink tax.
  It costs more to be a woman. We have seen it happen over and over 
again, where retailers find it okay to jack up the prices for the same 
products just because they are being marketed to women.
  A New York City Consumer Affairs study compared 800 products and 
found that they were 13 percent more for those that were virtually 
identical but provided for women. As I am going to show you today, we 
see the cost as much as 60 percent more for the same products being 
focused on women, but basically the same products.
  We need to think no further than looking at haircuts, where a woman 
can't get a haircut for $26 like former Governor Scott Walker, who 
mocked one of our colleagues about the cost of her particular haircut.
  Let's talk about retail sales. I had my office go online and do some 
online shopping. On Amazon, you can get this four-pack of Dove 
deodorant for women for $19.39, but the male version of this particular 
product is only $13.58 for a four-pack. That is a 60 percent cost 
differential, a 60 percent tax on women.
  Here is a pack of probiotics from CVS for a woman. It costs $32.79. 
For a man, it costs $22.79. That is a 68 percent increase and a tax on 
women for the same product.
  Then, we can move on to diapers. Believe it or not, diapers for girls 
cost more than diapers for boys. In fact, $37.79 for boys and $33.99 
for girls.
  Finally, my favorite is the teddy bears. If you go online and buy a 
pink teddy bear, you are going to pay a tax. It is $14.99. A blue teddy 
bear is only $12.30.
  This is stupid. This is crazy. This is discrimination. It is time for 
us to deal with it, and there is a way to deal with it.
  I have introduced the Pink Tax Repeal Act, which I am hopeful will be 
heard in the Energy and Commerce Committee. I am hopeful that, once and 
for all, we can do something about the fact that women pay more for the 
same goods and the same services.
  In California, we have a law that I had passed many years ago that 
focused on services. The Assembly Office of Research found that women 
pay $1,300 more per year for services. It shouldn't be based on gender; 
it should

[[Page H4011]]

be based on the amount of time it takes, whether it is a haircut or dry 
cleaning a shirt. We have seen over and over again that we pay more for 
the same service as well.
  Colleagues, I hope that on this very last day of Women's History 
Month, we remember this for the rest of the year, that women pay more 
for the same goods and services, and that should be against the law.

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