By Kristin Myers, Editor-in-Chief

ICYMI: 'Pink Tax' Makes Personal Care Products 13% More Expensive

In case you missed it, personal care products that are marketed toward women cost nearly 13% more than ones targeting men. A new study from The Balance shows how much the "pink tax" costs consumers shopping for shampoo, soap, lotion, razors, and more.

The pink tax is a term that refers to the extra price some consumers pay for products that target women, compared to the ones that are marketed to men—despite being the same or substantially similar.

The analysis reviewed the prices of personal care products around the country and found that razor cartridges marketed to women had the biggest markups, costing nearly 25% more than those marketed to men. Deodorant was the second most expensive item analyzed in the study, with a price difference of 12.6%.

The pink tax is particularly harmful to women's wallets, thanks to a wage gap where women earn only about 82 cents for every $1 a man earns. As inflation continues to run rampant, bigger portions of women's paychecks may be devoted to purchasing everyday products like lotion and razors, leaving less money for savings, investments, and retirement.

- Kristin

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'Pink Tax' Pushes Prices Up Nearly 13%, Study Shows (The Balance)

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Off the Charts

Investing does not need to involve saving large sums of money. Due to compound interest, you can earn money on your initial amount invested plus all the accumulated interest from previous periods. Learn what investing is, how much money you should invest, different investment strategies, and where to begin when investing.

Season 2 of the "Money Confidential" podcast is back with "Taxes in Ten," a six-episode mini-season covering your top tax questions. Host and nationally recognized money expert, Stefanie O'Connell Rodriguez, is teaming up with The Balance's very own Editor-in-Chief, Kristin Myers, as well as Caleb Silver, Editor-in-Chief of Investopedia, to talk about everything from doing your own taxes to the specific tax considerations of different life stages. You can listen now to "Taxes in Ten."