Gender-Based Pricing Is Now Prohibited in New York Hair Salons
The newly-passed law bans the “Pink Tax,” the practice of charging different prices for products marketed to a certain gender.
A new state law that passed on September 30 in New York suggests that barbershops and hair salons will no longer be allowed to price their products based on gender. The legislation tackles the tradition of putting prices on certain haircuts or styling services depending on whether the customer is male or female.
The ban on the “Pink Tax” was included in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s 2020 Women’s Agenda: “Gender-based pricing discrimination for substantially similar or like-kind goods and services has been prohibited by law, and businesses that violate the law will be subject to civil penalties,” the recently-updated list of 2020 Victories states. The new law takes effect not only in the beauty industry but also in any other good or service.
“New York is leading the nation in advancing women’s rights and this milestone marks the latest step in [the state]‘s journey to break down barriers and put women on an equal playing field,” Cuomo shared in a statement. “By abolishing the pink tax, women and girls will no longer be subject to harmful and unfair price discrimination and any businesses who fail to put an end to this despicable practice will be held accountable.” Adding on, Melissa DeRosa, Secretary to the Governor and Chair of the New York State Council on Women and Girls, stated: “The Pink Tax was gender-based discrimination, plain and simple. In New York, women have been forced to accept the unjust reality of a higher price tag for identical goods marketed to men.”
Instead of determining prices based on gender, the government is encouraging businesses to consider factors such as the amount of time taken for a service to be completed, the difficulty of the service, the cost incurred, the labor used and so on. You can head over to the New York State official website to learn more about the ban.
