Category Archives: Women and Economics

New Book Announcement: Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies

Here is the publisher’s description of the newly-published Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies (Bobel, C., Winkler, I.T., Fahs, B., Hasson, K.A., Kissling, E.A., Roberts, T.-A. eds.) : This open access handbook, the first of its kind, provides a comprehensive … Continue reading

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Should Breastfeeding Be Treated as Taxable Labor?

Over at the Lily, I read with some interested this article: Breastfeeding Isn’t Free. What if That Work Was Included in the GDP? Here is an excerpt: Of the nearly four million babies born in the United States every year, … Continue reading

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Bauer on Implicit Bias in the Tax Code

Anne Bryson Bauer (unaffiliated) has published We Can Do It? How the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Perpetuates Implicit Gender Bias in the Code, 43 Harv. J. Gender & Law 1 (2019). Here is the abstract: In December of 2017 … Continue reading

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How Much Do “Free” Tampons Cost Schools? $2.48 Per Student Per Year in Cambridge, MA

I have previously speculated (here) about what it would cost for public schools in Yonkers, New York to put menstrual products in the bathrooms of public schools serving students in grades 6 through 12. According to press reports (here), the … Continue reading

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There’s Nothing Dainty About the “Pink Tax”

Received in an email today from Sarah Shirkey (Pace Law 2021)  who is working on a research paper, and posted with permission: The phrase “pink tax” is so condescending – how about we call it what it is: gender-based price … Continue reading

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Tampon Shortages in a Pandemic

From the New York Times, this column about hte hoarding of menstrual products in these unsual times.  Here’s an excerpt: Just as the pandemic has disrupted work, school and social routines, so it has disrupted the menstrual supply chain. Those … Continue reading

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Coronavirus Aid Package Would Change Rules on Purchases of #Tampons, Pads

The corona virus aid package before the house contains a provision that would allow flexible spending accounts to be used to pay for menstrual products.  Business Insider has the story (here): The change in law would allow people to pay … Continue reading

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High School Students in Idaho Taking on the Tampon Tax – @MHS_Bobcats

Students at Madison High School in Idaho are taking on the tampon tax. The local newspaper, the Standard Journal, reported here that a group of seniors are proposing solutions as part of their “Project Citizen” work: Adeline Winn, Madison Jensen, … Continue reading

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Utah Poised to Repeal #Tampon Tax

Yesterday the Utah legislature passed a bill that will exempt from menstrual products (tampons, pads, etc.) from state sales tax.  Read more here.

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Sex Inequality in the U.S. and French #Tax Laws

Mary Roche Waller (Michigan JD 2017) has published Sex Inequality in the United States and French Income Tax Filing Systems, 73 Tax Lawyer 207 (2019). Here is the abstract: This Article explains and compares the joint and family income taxation … Continue reading

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Constitutional Court of Colombia Invalidates Tax on Menstrual Hygiene Products, Requires Bogotá to Provide Supplies for Homeless Women

Mónica Arango Olaya (DPhil Student, Oxford) has a fantastic write-up of two recent decisions by the Colombian Constitutional Court: In late 2018, the Court adopted Decision C-117 of 2018, holding that a provision imposing 5% VAT tax on tampons and … Continue reading

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Goldblatt & Steele on “Inequality Related to Menstruation”

Beth Goldblatt (University of Technology Sydney) and Linda Steele (University of Technology Sydney) have published a new article, Bloody Unfair: Inequality Related to Menstruation – Considering the Role of Discrimination Law, 41 Sydney L. Rev. 293 (2019): Drawing on growing … Continue reading

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80% of Teens Report Missing Class Time or Knowing Someone Who Has Missed Class Time Because of Lack of Access to Menstrual Hygiene Products

The results of a Harris Insights & Analytics poll of 1000 teens ages 13-19, sponsored by Thinx and PERIOD, are here. Some of the salient findings: Two-thirds of teens have felt stress due to lack of access to period products. … Continue reading

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Period Poverty in the U.S.

Amarica Rafanelli  at Direct Relief hosted a podcast on the topic here. Here’s a summary of the program, which features Jennifer Weiss-Wolf of Period Equity: Pads and tampons are a simple necessity, yet women across America are going without them. … Continue reading

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Op Ed on Discriminatory #TamponTax

Erwin Chemerinsky (UC Berkeley) and Jennifer Weiss-Wolf (Period Equity) have published an op-ed in the LA Times, Taxing Tampons Isn’t Just Unfair, It’s Unconstitutional. Here is an excerpt:   In the United States, where sales taxes are levied by each … Continue reading

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#Tampon #Tax Back in Tanzania

From Agence France Presse: A decision by Tanzania’s government to reintroduce a tax on sanitary pads and tampons has angered women in the country, with one activist on Sunday saying it would have “heavy consequences” for women.   Taxes on … Continue reading

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Ways Around the Tampon Tax – German Style

Via The Lily News.

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Who is Getting Rich? Not Minimum-Wage Workers

Over at Forbes, contributor Erik Sherman has a data-filled article here that begins with an eye-popping statistic: the federal minimum wage has not increased in almost 10 years.  That’s a record (and not a good one, in my view). After … Continue reading

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@PittLaw Tax Review Hosts Print Symposium

U.S. Feminist Judgments: Rewritten Tax Opinions The Pittsburgh Tax Review has published a print symposium/series of essays reviewing or inspired by U.S. Feminist Judgments: Rewritten Tax Opinions (Cambridge 2017). Here’s the table of contents with links to the contributions: The … Continue reading

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Are “CupAware” Events the New Tupperware Parties? Women’s Bodies as a Source of Corporate Profit

I read with interest ‘We’re Having a Menstrual Liberation’: How Periods Got Woke, published in The Guardian (U.K.). It’s a clunky and awkward title that obscures the contents of the article.   I am sitting in a hotel meeting room with … Continue reading

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Formal Equality on (Literal) Paper: Why Does the Man’s Name Go First on German Tax Returns?

The German publication Zeit Online recently published an article (here) critiquing a variety of gender disparities in German law. One that caught my eye was this discussion of the literal design of German tax forms: Frauen werden in Familienbüchern und … Continue reading

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NPR’s @PlanetMoney Podcast on the #TamponTax

On March 6, 2019, NPR’s Planet Money had a show Tampons: That Bloody Sales Tax that included an interview with attorney Zoe Salzman, talking about her work that contributed to New York’s repeal of the sales tax on menstrual hygiene … Continue reading

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State Legislature Watch: #Tampon Tax Repeal Bills Live in 13 States

In upcoming legislative sessions, state legislatures in these 13 states are poised to consider bills to repeal the sales tax on menstrual hygiene products: Arizona California Georgia Kentucky Maine Michigan Nebraska Ohio Tennessee Texas Virginia Washington West Virginia States that … Continue reading

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An Ode to the Marketplace, in a “Go Girl” Friendly Wrapper

I am a tax lawyer.  I spend much of my academic time thinking about wealth and its opposites.  I read Forbes.  I read the Forbes 100 list. In short: I’m inclined to be curious about articles that cover the marketplace, broadly … Continue reading

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How Much Do “Free” Tampons Cost? #MenstrualCapitalism and Examples from New York State

Spurred by legislation introduced by New York State Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, that state adopted a law that requires public schools to provide free menstrual hygiene products for students in grades 6-12. In April, 2018, Governor Andrew Cuomo tweeted the news: … Continue reading

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Pruitt on “The Women Feminism Forgot: Rural and Working-Class White Women in the Era of Trump”

Feminist law prof Lisa Pruitt (UC Davis) has posted to SSRN her article The Women Feminism Forgot: Rural and Working-Class White Women in the Era of Trump, forthcoming in the University of Toledo Law Review.  Here is the abstract: This article, … Continue reading

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Tax Law: Where the Right to Bodily Privacy Means Something?

The Ninth Circuit ruled today that the IRS may not invoke qualified immunity for allegedly breaching the taxpayer’s Fourth Amendment right to privacy, when a (female) agent required the (female) taxpayer to use the bathroom in the taxpayer’s own home … Continue reading

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The Unconstitutional #Tampon Tax

My Pace colleague Emily Gold Waldman and I have a new draft article, The Unconstitutional Tampon Tax, forthcoming in the Richmond Law Review.  Here is the abstract: Thirty-six states impose a sales tax on menstrual hygiene products, while products like … Continue reading

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Unintended Corporate (and Tax) Consequences of India’s Repeal of the #TamponTax

In July, 2018, India repealed its 12% goods and services tax (GST) on menstrual hygiene products. (News coverage here and here, e.g.) One (unintended, I suspect) consequence is the likely disadvantaging of domestic Indian manufacturers of these products. When the … Continue reading

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You Might be Able to Buy Tampons (and Gym Memberships) with Pre-Tax Dollars

Representative Grace Meng (D-NY) led the way in getting menstrual hygiene products included on an expanded list of products for which flexible spending account funds can be used under H.R. 6199, Restoring Access to Medication and Modernizing Health Savings Accounts … Continue reading

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Against Menstrual Capitalism

Menstrual equity, a phrase coined by attorney and activist Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, means “[f]airness for how women are treated in society because they menstruate.” Current menstrual equity efforts run along three identifiable, parallel tracks: (1) campaigns to repeal the state sales … Continue reading

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More on the Australia Tampon Tax: Tax Aromatherapy Instead?

ABC News Australia has a story by Louise Yaxley on the tampon tax repeal efforts there. Here is an excerpt from Senate Vote to Scrap ‘Tampon Tax’ Won’t Stop Women Paying 10 Per Cent More for Sanitary Products: The GST … Continue reading

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Tampon Tax Tracker: Australia “Axe the Tampon Tax” Bill

Earlier this week, the Australian Senate passed the Treasury Laws Amendment (Axe the Tampon Tax) Bill 2018, which would eliminate the goods and services tax on “tampons, pads, liners, cups, sponges and other products used in connection with menstruation.” These … Continue reading

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Sparer Forum @BrooklynLaw March 22: Low-Income Workers and Sexual Harassment

Thursday, March 22 4 to 6 p.m. Reception to follow Brooklyn Law School Subotnick Center 250 Joralemon Street Brooklyn RSVP online About the Forum Amid all of the uproar about sexual harassment in the workplace, little attention has been paid … Continue reading

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Campbell on “Women, Poverty, Equality The Role of CEDAW”

Meghan Campbell (University of Birmingham [U.K.]) has a new book published by Hart Publishing called Women, Poverty and Equality: The Role of CEDAW. Here is the publisher’s description: The stark reality is that throughout the world, women disproportionately live in … Continue reading

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Are Female Babies Worth “Less” Than Male Babies?

Lawrence Spizman (SUNY Oswego, Economics) has posted to SSRN a new paper Damages to a Child and the Fair Calculations Act. Here is the abstract: The Fair Calculations Act introduced in the House of Representatives (H.R.6417) and Senate(S.3489) seeks to … Continue reading

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Richmond Times Editorial Board Supports Ending Virginia’s Tampon Tax

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch editorial board on January 28, 2018: As a general rule, taxes ought to serve a single function: raising revenue for the government. Lawmakers should not use the tax code as a vehicle for social engineering — … Continue reading

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Posted in Women and Economics, Women's Health | 1 Comment

New Zealand Women May Get a Break on the Tampon Tax

From the (New Zealand) Dominion Post, this article about a government-appointed appointed working group that will look at the country’s goods and services tax (akin to the sales tax imposed in the U.S.): [F]inance Minister Grant Robertson said the panel … Continue reading

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How to Get Involved in Menstrual Equity Activism: Advice from Jennifer Weiss-Wolf

The indominitable Jennifer Weiss-Wolf (previously profiled on Feminist Law Profs here) has published a book called Periods Gone Public: Taking a Stand for Menstrual Equity (Arcade Publishing, New York: 2017).  Here is the publisher’s description: After centuries of being shrouded … Continue reading

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Sexual Harassers May Lose Their New York Tax Breaks

New York State Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal (D-WF/Manhattan) plans to introduce legislation that would eliminate city state tax breaks for companies that knew of  and failed to respond to sexual harassment by one of their employees, or if the company … Continue reading

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Women Don’t Bleed Blue (Even Yalies and Members of the Social Register)

Several years ago, Ann Bartow blogged here about U.S. advertisers’ first use of a “red dot” to illustrate blood on a menstrual hygiene pad. According to this article in the Scottish Daily Mail, an ad for Bodyform in the U.K. … Continue reading

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Free Candy with Your Tampons, in Texas of all Places!

In Denton, Texas, an indie grocery store owner is offering a free candy bar with the purchase tampons (but oddly, not pads).  The Dallas Morning News reports (here) that store owner Jacob Moses says, “I think the sales tax is … Continue reading

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Class Actions for Refund of Sales Tax: From Tampons to Tea

Those following the “tampon tax” cases seeking refunds for sales tax paid on menstrual hygiene products may be interested in this story of a suit brought against Walgreens for a refund of tax on non-sugary drinks: A Schaumburg man is … Continue reading

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Guest Blogger Vasujith Ram on Taxes on Sanitary Napkins in India

The Constitution of India was recently amended to introduce the ‘Goods and Services Tax’ (GST). The GST subsumes almost all the existing indirect taxes in India (such as Excise Duty and Service Tax, levied and collected by the Federal Government, … Continue reading

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Scotland’s Experiment with Free Tampons

Good news out of Scotland, via the Huffington Post: Scotland has made another great announcement for women’s health: the government will run a pilot program to provide low-income women with free menstrual products. The initiative, announced Tuesday , will run … Continue reading

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What We Know (and Don’t Know) About the Tax Code’s Impact on Small Businesses Owned by Women

Caroline Bruckner, an Executive in Residence, Department of Accounting and Taxation at the Kogood School of Business (American University), has published a report entitled Billion Dollar Blind Spot: How the U.S. Tax Code’s Small Business Expenditures Impact Women Business Owners. It … Continue reading

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Washington State Considering Repeal of Tampon Tax OR Having Women Pay for DV Services

From the Vancouver (WA) Columbian: Sen. Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver, is hoping Senate Bill 5093 will exempt feminine hygiene products from retail and use tax. As she pointed out to the Senate Ways & Means Committee last week, they are medically … Continue reading

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Interview with Dana Brooks Cooper, Florida Attorney Challenging the “Tampon Tax”

Earlier this year, Bridget J. Crawford spoke with Dana Brooks Cooper, Esq. of Barret, Fasig & Brooks in Tallahassee, Florida.  Ms. Brooks is representing the plaintiff in a class action that challenges the Florida “tampon tax,” the state sales tax … Continue reading

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Interview with Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, New York Attorney and Menstrual Equity Advocate

Bridget J. Crawford recently spoke with Jennifer Weiss-Wolf of Period Equity, a non-profit organization located in New York City focused on all aspects of menstrual fairness. Ms. Weiss-Wolf is a self-described “writer, activist, feminist.” She is an advocate and frequent … Continue reading

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District of Columbia Repeals Its Tampon Tax; Is Texas Next?

The District of Columbia is slated to end its tampons on feminine hygiene products, as well as diapers, in October, 2017: The nation’s capital is joining the movement to lift the sales taxes on diapers, tampons and other feminine hygiene … Continue reading

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