(Newswire.net — December 23, 2015) — Men and women differ in many ways since their birth. Parents treat boys and girls differently – in many countries fathers are more lenient to their daughters, in other countries girls are almost invisible and live their lives unnoticed as opposed to boys who have everything they want. Even in developed countries there are many cases where boys and girls are not treated equally. But there is one thing that a recent study found in which men have absolute supremacy: the cost of life.
A new study called “From Cradle to Cane:The Cost of Being a Female Consumer” found that, in spite of the progress we made as a civilization, women around the world continue pay more for their products than men pay for theirs, even when the products belong to the same category.
New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs was tracking differences in prices of identical products intended both for men and women. They analyzed the prices of around 800 products belonging to 35 categories and found that, during their lives, women are charged more for nearly everything they buy.
They found a lot of products that belong to the same category, but which cost more if they are intended for women. For example, girls shirts cost 13 percent more than boys shirts; the same thing is with toys: girls toys cost 11 percent more than boys toys, although there is no difference between the toys except for color.
It also turned out that when girls and boys grow up to become adults, the price difference of the comparable products seems to carry over, which means that women’s shirts are 15 percent more expensive than men’s.
When it comes to health care items, the situation is even worse: women pay staggering 56 percent more for products even when the ingredients are comparable.
In the old age the situation doesn’t get any better. Items like braces, canes and personal urinals for elderly women cost more (15,12 and 21 percent respectively for each product) than their male counterparts. Adult diapers are no exception. The study concluded that over the course of one’s life, women pay an average of 7 percent more than men for comparable products.
The study’s authors said: “Though these may be legitimate drivers behind some portion of the price discrepancies unearthed in this study, these higher prices are mostly unavoidable for women. Individual consumers do not have control over the textiles or ingredients used in the products marketed to them and must make purchasing choices based only on what is available in the market place. As such, choices made by manufacturers and retailers result in a greater financial burden for female consumers than for male consumers”.
Although New York City does not tolerate gender injustice, it seems that the city officials can’t do much when it comes to this problem. The authorities can’t alter the prices of products because pricing does not fall under their jurisdiction.
One of the purposes of this study was to raise the awareness about this problem and to attract the intention of social media to act upon it.