The report compared prices of roughly 800 products from 90 brands sold at two dozen New York City retail locations. Particularly in focus were items specifically designed for a particular gender, like razors, shampoo and dress clothing.
Ultimately, the study found women's products cost more 42 percent of the time, while men are hit with a higher bill only 18 percent of the time. That means women are "paying thousands of dollars more over the course of their lives to purchase similar products as men," according to the report.
"In all but five of the 35 product categories analyzed, products for female consumers were priced higher than those for male consumers," the study said. "Though there may be legitimate drivers behind some portion of the price discrepancies unearthed in this study, these higher prices are mostly unavoidable for women."
The study's findings are hardly an isolated incident. The state of California passed legislation banning discriminatory pricing based on a consumer's sex back in the 1990s after finding that women effectively paid $1,351 more than men each year for similar goods and services.
And Consumer Reports back in 2010 found that "products directed at women – through packaging, description or name – might cost up to 50 percent more than similar products for men."
It's worth noting that men generally have to pay more for life and car insurance (and on date nights, assuming chivalry isn't dead). But these studies' findings are particularly alarming given the much-discussed gender pay gap.
The White House earlier this year estimated that women's median wages for full-time work are roughly 78 percent those of men. While wage discrimination based on gender is technically illegal, these findings suggest women in some cases are earning less and paying more than men.
By: Andrew Soergel.
Review: Emerging Market
Formulations & Research Unit, Flagship Records.
For The #FacebookTeam