Amidst Senator Casey’s ongoing investigation of corporate greed squeezing the budgets of American families, this new snapshot reveals how greedy corporations take advantage of female consumers
J.P. Morgan estimates the price hike known as the “pink tax” could cost women an average of $1,300 per year
Read Casey’s study, “The Pink Tax: How Companies Tack Extra Costs on Women in the Age of Greedflation” HERE
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Children & Families, released a study detailing how corporate greed has disproportionately harmed the budgets of women. “The Pink Tax: How Companies Tack Extra Costs on Women in the Age of Greedflation” is a continuation of Senator Casey’s investigation into how corporate greed is squeezing families’ budgets and builds on Casey’s vision to hold these companies accountable and put money back in the pockets of American families.
“From personal care products to car insurance to school supplies, corporate CEOs are pink-taxing women and girls on products and services they need,” said Senator Casey. “It’s clear that corporations have been making it harder for American women to save and get ahead financially. I’m going to keep fighting back against the big corporations that are putting their profits over people.”
Senator Casey has long worked to highlight disproportionate financial burdens on women. In August 2016, Casey requested that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) undertake a study of gender-based price discrimination in the market for goods and services, seeking to shine a light on why price disparities exist and why they tend to be burdensome for women.
Since November 2023, Chairman Casey has been investigating corporate price gouging and other actions by big corporations that have squeezed the budgets of American families and contributed to the increase in inflation. In February, the New York Times featured Senator Casey’s investigation into shrinkflation.
In November, Chairman Casey released the first report in his greedflation series, “Greedflation: How Corporations Are Making Record Profits on the Backs of American Families,” detailing how big corporations are using inflation as cover to raise prices and rake in record profits at the expense of middle-class American families and laying out Senator Casey’s vision to hold greedy corporations accountable. Corporate executives claim they’ve “earned the right” to raise prices and that their products “are worth paying a little bit more for.”
Ahead of Thanksgiving, Casey released his second report, “Stuffing Their Pockets: How Big Food and Agriculture Businesses Are Making Your Holiday Meals More Expensive," examining how the agribusiness companies that process Americans’ food have increased prices for everyday staple foods and raising questions about why those price increases are necessary, particularly during the holiday season. Some of these companies have a history of engaging in price-fixing, colluding to raise prices, anti-competitive conduct, and touting their ability to raise prices without limit. Seeking answers, Senator Casey sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission and United States Department of Agriculture requesting that the agencies use all necessary resources to investigate possible unfair pricing practices of major chicken and pork processors in the United States. The Federal Trade Commission, in response, assured Senator Casey that policing potentially anticompetitive conduct in food industries continues to be a top priority for the Commission given the high stakes for American families, farmers, and the Nation’s economy.
In December 2023, Casey released his third report of his greedflation series, “Less Bang for Your Buck: Casey Releases Shrinkflation Report Exposing Big Corporations for Reducing Product Size While Keeping Prices High,” calling out household consumer products, food, and beverage corporations for reducing the size of household consumer goods, from toilet paper to cereals to snacks, while continuing to sell them at the same retail price. To better protect families’ pocketbooks, Senator Casey sent letters to the trade associations representing household consumer products, food, and beverage corporations demanding answers about pricing strategies, package size practices, and how shrinkflation affects customers.
In January 2024, Casey released his fourth report of his greedflation series, “Additional Charges May Apply: How Big Corporations Use Hidden Fees to Nickel, Dime, and Deceive American Families” detailing how big corporations are tacking on excessive fees at the tail end of everyday purchases, from internet plans to ATM withdrawals. Senator Casey believes that no Pennsylvanian should be blindsided by a junk fee and that the negative impacts of hidden fees can be mitigated by: fighting deceptive practices that allow corporations to hide the fees they charge consumers; preventing corporations from deceptively passing along their expenses to working families through bogus fees; and protecting businesses that are honest about their pricing structures. In a letter to the Government Accountability Office that same month, Senator Casey pushed the government watchdog to examine the effects of corporate greed on American consumers.
In February 2024, Casey introduced legislation to protect American families from greedflation by banning grossly excessive price increases and crack down on corporate price gouging. The same month, Casey also introduced the Shrinkflation Prevention Act, which empowers the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general to crack down on corporations that deceive consumers by selling smaller sizes of their products without lowering the prices.
This month, Senator Casey sent a letter to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra in support of the CFPB’s proposed rule to crack down on excessive overdraft banking penalties. In February, Senator Casey sent a letter to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan in support of FTC’s proposal to eliminate junk fees across the market.
Read the full report “The Pink Tax: How Companies Tack Extra Costs on Women in the Age of Greedflation” HERE.
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