Forget the Gender Pay Gap — Let’s Discuss the Women’s Underwear Tax

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Whether it’s lower pay or more expensive undergarments, women just can’t seem to catch a break. 

There are certain expenses we all pay for that can easily be described as essential. Food is one of them, as are mortgage and rent payments. And it’s pretty fair to say that underwear falls into the category of, “This is something everyone must have.” As such, it’s a bit disheartening to learn that when it comes to underwear tariffs, women are getting the short end of the stick.

The average U.S. tariff rate on women’s undergarments is 15%, whereas for men, it’s just 11.5%. That means women are being charged a tax that’s 35% higher than what men have to absorb, according to Ed Gresser, the current director of Trade and Global Markets at the Progressive Policy Institute, as reported by CNN.

Going low-end may not help

Any time the price of a given commodity gets expensive, consumers could always opt to purchase a lower-cost alternative. For example, if you’re tired of racking up a massive credit card tab in the course of buying your favorite breakfast cereals, you could always switch to the store brand and save yourself a little money.

But that tactic may not work in the context of women’s underwear. The reason? Tariffs on undergarments are regressive, which means that lower-cost materials tend to be taxed more than higher-end ones.

The tariff rate for silk underwear, for example, is 2.1% for women. For cotton underwear, it’s 7.6%. So even if you’re willing to downgrade your underwear to boring old cotton, it may not make much of a financial difference.

Yet another way women lose out

In 2021, women only earned an estimated $0.82 for every dollar that men earned, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. And in some sectors, that pay gap was even wider.

Of course, disparity in pay has long been a problem for women. And so the fact that they have to pay more for a basic expense like underwear only makes an already frustrating financial situation even worse.

If your underwear purchases are busting your budget, well, don’t stop making them. After all, it’s underwear. It’s a good thing to have. And unless you’re a fan of doing laundry multiple times a week, it’s something you probably need a pretty robust supply of.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t cut back on spending in other areas if you’re struggling financially in general — a lot of people are doing so these days, thanks to inflation. You can buy store brand soap instead of the fancy brands, and go the do-it-yourself route when possible to save money on tasks you might normally outsource, like home maintenance. You can also dump some non-essential bills like streaming services if they just don’t fit into your budget right now.

It’s not easy to function and thrive in a society where men not only earn more than women, but get to spend less money on underwear. But women can take steps to overcome these factors so they’re not forced to struggle financially in the process.

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