It Really Does Cost More To Be Female, Report Shows

SANTA MONICA (CBSLA.com) — A new report shows it really does cost more to be female.

The Department of Consumer Affairs in New York City looked at 800 items and found if the same product is packaged differently for women than for men, the female version on average will cost seven percent more.

"I used to think it was a big deal if one was for women and one was for me," said Natasha Tilly, a shopper on the Third Street Promenade. "Then, my dad would tell me it was essentially the same thing, just packaged differently."

It's called gender-based pricing and it starts young.

For instance, a helmet with a shark costs $14.99 as compared to one with a unicorn for $27.99.

Another example includes a pink scooter that was priced almost twice as much as the red one. Target blamed a system error for the discrepancy.

But the study found women paid more time and time again even on products like jeans.

CBS2 did its own checking and found examples in the personal-care aisle.

The men's version of deodorant with nearly identical ingredients as the female version is larger, although priced similarly.

In California, it is illegal to charge women more for services like haircuts or dry cleaning, but the law does not address products.

"There's no question that Americans would say a company with a different price for a Latino and a black person and a white person would be considered discriminatory," Carmen Balber of Consumer Watchdog in Santa Monica said.

Balber said a 20-year-old study found gender-based pricing can cost women in California more than $1,300 a year.

"We need strict rules and not just outrage," she said.