New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York City Department of Consumer Affairs Commissioner Julie Menin have announced the results of “From Cradle to Cane: The Cost of Being a Female Consumer,” DCA’s first study of gender pricing disparities between goods sold in New York City.
Through a comparison of nearly 800 products with clear male and female versions from more than 90 brands sold online and in stores at two dozen New York City stores, the City found that, on average, products for women cost 7% more than similar products for men. In addition, across the entire sample, women’s products were priced higher 42% of the time.
These findings suggest that, over the course of a woman’s life, she pays thousands of dollars more than a man to purchase similar products. Although there may be legitimate drivers behind some portion of the price discrepancies—such as ingredients, textiles and import tariffs—these higher prices are mostly unavoidable to shoppers.
“We must advocate for equality at every turn. Gender equity is a priority of this administration and across city agencies, which is why we’re placing pressure on retailers to correct their gendered pricing practices and why I established the Commission on Gender Equity earlier this year,” said Mayor de Blasio. “Gender discrimination is never acceptable, and when we know that women continue to make less than men every year, the findings of this study are insult to injury for female consumers.”
Evaluated products were selected from multiple industries in order to mirror the average consumer lifecycle, from children’s products to products for seniors. In addition to increasing consumer awareness about the issue of gender pricing, the City sent letters to the major retailers of the products reviewed, encouraging them to reevaluate their gender pricing practices.
The goal of the study was to estimate the extent and frequency of the price differences that male and female shoppers face when buying the same types of items from five industries: toys and children’s accessories, children’s clothing, adult clothing, personal care items and home healthcare products for seniors. DCA compared nearly 800 products across 35 different product categories, such as bikes and scooters, onesies, jeans, razors, and canes. The products selected had similar male and female versions and were the closest in branding, ingredients, appearance, textile, and construction.
The de Blasio Administration has put gender at the center of its fight against inequality. Among the policies and programs put in place by Mayor de Blasio to combat gender inequity are an unprecedented investment in domestic violence response and education through the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence; the formation of a first-ever Commission on Gender Equity to leverage the power of City government to expand and increase opportunity for all New Yorkers regardless of sex, gender, or sexual orientation; the creation of first-ever maternal mental health services through ThriveNYC, a mental health initiative led by First Lady Chirlane McCray; the historic roll-out of Universal Pre-K; the expansion of paid sick leave to many of the lowest paid industries that employ disproportionate amounts of women; the establishment of a partnership with UN women and becoming the first American city to join the United Nation’s Safe Cities Initiative; the appointment and promotion of more women to leadership positions in agencies and City Hall than ever before—with more women serving in 57% of the administration’s senior leadership positions; and a host of initiatives carried out across City agencies.
“DCA’s comprehensive study makes an important contribution to the steady body of evidence showing that retail goods cost more simply because they are marketed to woman,” said Michael Cone, New York office managing partner of FisherBroyles, LLP, trade law expert and consultant on the report. “The problem arises from private decisions by manufacturers, retailers and advertisers, and also from gender-based import tariffs imposed by the U.S. government. The solution lies with informed retail customers who refuse to buy into the discrimination, and this is why the DCA’s study and efforts to educate the public are so important.”
Across the five industries analyzed, women were charged 7% more for toys and children’s accessories, 4% more for children’s clothing, 8% more for adult clothing, 13% more for personal-care items, and 8% more for home healthcare products. In all but five of the 35 product categories analyzed, products for female consumers were priced higher than those for male consumers.
In 1992, DCA issued a report on differing costs of various services by gender, and concluded that women were frequently charged more than men for the same services in many different industries, including laundry and dry cleaning establishments and hair salons. As a result of this report, in 1998, the New York City Council passed a law requiring posted prices to distinguish between prices based on the actual differences that would require more labor. For example, instead of using the terms shirts and blouses, which are inherently gender based, price lists must describe the differences between the garments: shirts with ruffles, shirts with pleats, etc., as items that require additional labor.
In the past two years, DCA has issued about 250 violations involving gender pricing for services at laundries, dry cleaners, hair and nail salons, and shoe-repair stores.
[Image: Getty Images/Henglein and Steets]