German women pay more than men for the same products and services
Frankfurt am Main — From pink razor blades to salon haircuts, women regularly pay more for items and services that are nearly identical to those for men but marketed differently, a German watchdog said Tuesday. In the country’s largest such study to date, the federal anti-discrimination agency (ADS) singled out hairdressers and dry cleaners as the worst offenders, though it found that overall, the price gap for gendered products was relatively small. "If a person is charged more purely based on their gender, then in principle this violates the law against discrimination," said Christine Lueders, the head of Germany’s federal anti-discrimination agency (ADS). Her agency compared the prices of nearly 1,700 products that targeted a specific gender — often by using the colours pink and blue — but were otherwise similar. Among the examples of the so-called "pink tax" was a pink pack of four razor blade refills sold by the discount supermarket chain Aldi for €4.49, while the blue "for men...
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