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The ”Pink Tax” Explained: Why it Can Cost More to Be a Woman... - YouTube
Channel: PDS News Clips
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[Music]
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hello and welcome back to rogue rocket
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my name is Maria so seein today we're
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going to be talking about the pink tax
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you may have heard that term before but
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a lot of people don't know what the pink
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tax is the pink tax is not actually a
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tax but rather the fact that women are
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charged more for certain goods and
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services and the products marketed to
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women are often more expensive than the
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same product marketed to men this
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includes basic products like shampoo
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razors and clothes but the same also
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goes for everyday services that are not
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marketed along gender lines like dry
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cleaning mortgages and auto purchases
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according to a 2015 study by the New
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York City Department of Consumer Affairs
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women pay more than men nearly half of
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the time by looking at versions of
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products that were similar for women and
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men the study found that women's
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clothing costs 8 percent more than men's
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and though the study noted that women's
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clothes are generally more expensive to
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manufacture it also cited experts at the
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Fashion Institute of Technology who
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found that clothing manufacturing costs
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are quote a small fraction of the
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ultimate retail price because retailers
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are the ones who set the sales price for
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consumers an even more clear example of
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a pink tax our personal care and hygiene
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products targeted to women which costs
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upwards of 13% more than those from men
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in terms of materials and ingredients
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items like shampoo and deodorant are
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almost identical for men and women but
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women pay substantially more this is
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especially evident for shampoo and
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conditioner which the study says costs
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women almost twice as much as men to buy
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essentially the same product that study
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also found that female targeted products
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aren't just more expensive for adults
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but for children as well on average
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clothes marketed for girls cost 4
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percent more than those for boys while
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toys for girls cost 7 percent more than
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toys for boys and we're not talking
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trucks versus dolls some of these
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products were functionally identical in
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one example the report showed a listing
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from targets website for two Radio Flyer
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scooters which were exactly the same
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except one was pink and the other was
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red while the red scooter only cost
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$24.99 a pink scooter cost nearly double
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that at $49.99 this is a very literal
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example of the pink tax as the female
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version of the product costs way more
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seemingly for the sole reason that it
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was pink this also illustrates the fact
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that the pink tax is a lifelong cost for
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women and that cost adds up in a 1994
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study the state of California estimated
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that the pink tax cost women about
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$1,350 each year and according to 2016
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congressional report by the Joint
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Economic Committee that number would be
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about two thousand one hundred
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thirty-five dollars today so why are
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products and services more expensive for
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women what causes the pink tax there are
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a couple of reasons at the very top
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level there's no federal law that stops
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companies from charging different prices
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for products that are basically
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identical based on gender but that's not
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for lack of trying
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in 2016 Democratic Representative Jackie
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Speier proposed the pink tax repeal act
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on the House floor
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she reintroduced the bill again in 2018
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and 2019 but little movement has been
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made those who oppose the bill included
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retailers and manufacturers who sold
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women's clothing and other products
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targeted to women some also argued that
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lowering prices for women's products
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would hurt American manufacturers and
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lead to job losses from employee layoffs
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are the reasons the pink tax exists
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include economic factors several studies
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have found that in the u.s. import
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tariffs on women's clothing are higher
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on average than those on men's meaning
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women's clothes are generally taxed
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higher when first entering the States
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and the US government has not explained
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why they add extra taxes to imported
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women's clothing more often than men's
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over the years a number of retailers
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have filed lawsuits against the
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government alleging that it uses tariffs
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that discriminate based on gender but
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the cases have largely been dismissed
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another big contributor to the pink tax
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is simply the fact that women men
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straight and that they need to buy
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sanitary products while products like
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food and medicine are exempt from sales
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tax in most states because they're
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considered necessities the majority of
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states do not classify sanitary products
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as necessities this is what's known as a
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tampon tax and while you could argue
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that sanitary products are not a
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necessity the same way food and medicine
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are it's safe to say most women wouldn't
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be able to function in society like they
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do now without these products others
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also point out that there are plenty of
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products that most people would not
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consider necessities but are still given
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the same tax exemption as the Los
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Angeles Times reports in some states
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necessity exemptions include things such
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as bingo supplies cotton candy erectile
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dysfunction pills gun club memberships
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and tattoos and because so many women
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need to buy sanitary products
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governments collect a ton of money from
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tampon taxes according to the advocacy
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group period equity states collectively
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make a profit of 150 million dollars a
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year from taxing menstrual products a
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number of legal experts have argued that
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the tampon tax is unconstitutional
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because it violates the Equal Protection
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Clause of the US Constitution it is
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unlikely that there will be sweeping
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legal changes that would end
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gender-based price discrimination like
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the pink tax repeal Act but there have
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been some significant efforts to end
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tampon taxes at the state level in the
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last few years
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according to period equity since 2015 32
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states have introduced measures to
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eliminate the tax and eight have
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successfully passed legislation not
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included on their list was California
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where legislation just went into effect
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that'll temporarily provide tax
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exemptions for diapers and menstrual
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products for the next two years and this
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movement is growing rapidly according to
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the New York Times in 2019 alone
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legislation to repeal the tampon tax was
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proposed in 22 states and already we're
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seeing reports that states including
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Virginia Wisconsin South Carolina and
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others have already proposed similar
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measures for the 2020 legislative year
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but for now we'll have to wait and see
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and with that I want to pass the
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question off to you do you think
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companies should charge women more for
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essentially the same product do you
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think states should tax tampons or pads
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things nearly everyone would consider a
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necessity nowadays in an article from
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reason.com
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one critic argued that quote individual
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consumers do have control over which
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products they buy and though products
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like pink razors are marketed toward
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women no one is forcing them to buy
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those razors do you agree with that
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argument all right that about wraps it
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up for today's video if you like this
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marina so Sienna thank you so much for
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watching and I'll see you again soon
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