The Pink Tax: What you need, they mark up

August 06, 2019 / 4:02 pm

Two Gillette brand razors plus a handle, side by side, with price comparisons. Both products have two disposable razor heads and a handle, yet one of the products is nearly five dollars more expensive than the other.

KUOW Photo

More than half of the population spends an absurd amount of money every year on products they need. What’s worse is that institutionally, these products aren’t considered necessities. They are considered luxury items and marked up as such.

Menstrual products, razors, shampoo, shaving cream and even toothpaste are affected by what is known as the Pink Tax.

RadioActive's Morgen White, Charlotte Engrav, Sonya Sheptunov and Antonio Nevarez try to understand the complexities that go into the sexism of consumerism— what’s the point of the Pink Tax? What role does it play in state economies? How can these products be made more accessible?

This story was created in KUOW's RadioActive Intro to Journalism Workshop for 15- to 18-year-olds, with production support from Lila Shroff. Edited by Kelsey Kupferer.

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The RadioActive theme song is by Prod Riddiman, Fabian Hernandez and Inline Sound Design.