New York Governor: Ban ‘Pink Tax’ On Products Aimed At Women

Stock photo by Kaldari / Wikimedia.

NEW YORK — New York’s governor wants to eliminate the so-called “pink tax.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday he’ll push legislation banning gender-based price disparities for similar goods and services.

Cuomo, a Democrat, cited research that indicated women often end up with a bigger bill for items like toys, clothing and personal care products.


The proposal, rolled out as part of Cuomo’s State of the State agenda, would require certain service providers to post price lists for standard services.

Businesses that don’t comply could be hit with civil penalties.

“Women shouldn’t be nickel and dimed their entire lives because of their gender,” Cuomo said in a statement. “It’s discriminatory and repugnant to our values and we’re putting an end to it.”



A 2015 study by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs found that 42 percent of the time products targeted at women were more expensive than those marketed to men.

Products aimed at women cost an average of 7% more than similar items for men and personal care products for women were priced 13% higher than men’s products, according to the study.

In 2016, New York banned taxes on menstrual products and last year enacted laws mandating equal pay and barring companies from asking about salary history.

 



Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the WNY News Now mobile app on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

 

Have a news tip? Email newsdesk@WNYNewsNow.com, send us a message on Facebook, or Twitter.

WNY News Now encourages an open exchange of opinions and ideas on our stories, however, we ask everyone to follow our comment policy.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.