I’ve heard both.
In: Economics
Wage gap is a thing. However there’s two wage gaps, and the distinction is a misunderstanding. Women make $0.72 (or something like that) for every $1 a man does, on national average. That discrepancy is caused largely by things like stay-at-home mothers and women choosing to go in to lower playing fields/men taking more in-demand/worse jobs. Society definitely influences those, but they are ultimately personal choices.
But when you account for experience and field differences, women on average make 5% less. So if a male 10-year engineer makes $100k on average, the average woman in the same job with the same experience will only make $95k. That one isn’t a personal choice, it’s what companies are offering. Both wage gaps are very real, and definitely problems; but the first is societal gender difference, and the other is much harder to pin down.
Pink tax; I’m less sure about, but there’s a hint of truth to it. Women definitely feel required by society to spend more. But I’m not convinced they’re being overcharged for the same products; which is what the pink tax usually refers to. They arguably get more/fancier clothes and personal care products, etc for their increased spending. It’s terrible that society has those pressures to spend more, but I’m not convinced that they aren’t getting what they pay for. As an example: hair care routines; from shower products to hair cuts, the average woman will spend much more, but also gets a significantly higher quality of hair care. It’s incredibly difficult to accurately compare “gendered” products apples-to-apples.
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