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Women have to pay a lot more in stores than men for almost the same things. A new study by The Times newspaper in Britain found that many products for women cost up to twice as much as similar products for men. Researchers looked at hundreds of goods in the UK's biggest shops. They found that women's clothes and beauty products and girls' toys were on average 36 per cent more expensive than products for men and boys. One store charged over $7 more for a pink scooter aimed at girls than a black one. Another store charged double the price for ten razors simply because they were pink. Researchers said Levi's 501 jeans for women are on average 46 per cent more expensive than those for men.



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The Times called this "sexist" pricing. Other people have called it a "gender tax". Maria Miller, the chairwoman of the British government's women and equalities committee, called it a "rip-off". She said she would ask Britain's government to look into this to see if there was price discrimination. Britain's Financial Times (FT) newspaper said: "Perhaps women tend to be busier and have less time to shop around. Or perhaps they care more about quality when it comes to deodorant or shampoo, whereas men just want something cheap." However, the FT said men paid more for some things and questioned why the journalists did not look at the price differences for things that appeal more to men.

Sources:

  • http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/money/consumeraffairs/article4668903.ece
  • http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b89e16da-b96c-11e5-b151-8e15c9a029fb.html
  • http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/12066820/New-Gender-Tax-study-shows-women-are-charged-more-for-being-woman.html

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