Why are women’s haircuts more expensive than men’s?

London
CNN News
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This is a situation that many women find themselves in: They go to the salon for a haircut and spend a lot of money, while their male partners, brothers, uncles, and male friends spend much less at the same barbershop, or salon.

But are women really paying more for the same services? Is the price difference justified? Or is this another example of a “pink tax,” where products and services aimed at women cost more than those aimed at men for no apparent reason?

The available data certainly lends credibility to the frustrations of many women.

Last year, the average cost for a basic women’s haircut was $51.71 compared to $34.56 for a men’s haircut across the United States, according to transaction data provided exclusively to CNN by Square, a payment system provider. The cheapest women’s haircut could be found in South Dakota for $31.43 — nearly one and a half times more than the $21.59 men paid for their cheapest haircut, also in that state.

Across the ocean, the data is also pretty good, ahem, clear.

In 2020, a YouGov consumer survey of the UK found that women paid an average of £31.99 ($40.80) for a basic haircut, which may include a wash and blow-dry. That was more than double the average £12.17 (£15.50) paid by men for the same or similar service.

According to YouGov’s calculations, women typically pay £135 ($172) for a haircut in a year, while men spend an average of £70 ($89). “While women tend to get their hair cut less often, this still doesn’t make up for the difference in prices paid,” Matthew Smith, YouGov’s head of data journalism, wrote at the time.

Still, like keratin-conditioned two-tone balayage: it’s complicated.

There are a wide range of haircuts, colors, and treatments offered by many hair salons and barbershops. And these businesses employ people with varying levels of skill and training to serve customers with a wide range of hair textures and lengths.

There’s also wide variation in the types of experiences customers are looking for, according to Fred Jones, legal counsel at the Professional Beauty Federation of California, a trade body that, since the pandemic, has grown to represent hair-care businesses and workers in all states.

“You have high-end service that provides a half-day experience and there’s champagne, soda, ‘give me a quick drink, I’m here for 15 minutes and then I’m gone,'” he told CNN.

That diversity makes it “very difficult to know” whether women are paying higher prices simply because of their gender, Jones said.

“It is in no one’s interest in our industry to discriminate… if your salon’s reputation for discrimination in any form gets out there, it will hurt your bottom line,” he added.

Tara Farmer, an editor at Fash, a site that connects consumers with local businesses across the U.S., cites differences in hair length in general as a major reason that drives prices for women higher than for men.

“Women’s haircuts typically take longer than men’s haircuts and often involve longer hair and the use of additional styling products, tools and techniques,” Farmer wrote in a January report on the issue.

The report found the average cost of a women’s haircut ranges between $45 and $75 across the country, while men’s haircuts range between $25 and $50, though it didn’t specify whether women’s haircuts typically include additional services like blow-drying.

Additional services like coloring can easily drive the price into the triple digits. The average cost of balayage highlights — a natural-looking coloring style that concentrates dye toward the ends of the hair — was $175 in 2022, according to Fash data.

Caroline Larissey, chief executive of the National Hair & Beauty Federation (NHBF), a UK trade body, told CNN that women are more likely to request such additional services than men. “Women generally use shampoo, conditioner, treatments, as well as haircuts and blow-drys, whereas men who go to the barber often go for a blow-dry,” she said.

Still, overall, women are still charged about two and a half times more than men for the same haircut, Larissey said. However, there are “pockets” of the industry that are starting to charge customers based on the time spent in the chair, she added, rather than differentiating by gender — a move the NHBF is actively encouraging.

“We have to adapt as an industry,” Larissey said.

‘Outdated and old fashioned’

Kristin Rankin, a New York City-based hairstylist, thinks we should eliminate gender pricing altogether. “When you go to cosmetology school to be a hairstylist, you learn how to cut hair,” she told CNN. “This misconception of learning how to cut men’s hair[versus]women’s hair is ridiculous.”

In 2016, Rankin founded the Dresscode Project, a nonprofit that trains hairstylists and salon owners to create environments that affirm a person’s gender identity, which in many cases, does not fit into the binary categories of “male” or “female.”

Two ways to do this, they say, are by charging clients based on the length of their hair, or the time it takes to cut it. “[Gender-based pricing]creates an environment where it’s easy to misgender people,” which can have “a huge psychological impact,” Rankin adds.

Goldie x Bob is one of the hair salons that, five years ago, held a issued a price list based on gender. Now, “clients are paying for time and expertise, and it has nothing to do with gender,” said Liz Burns, founder of the Denver-based salon.

Short haircuts are automatically booked for an hour, “but if it only takes 30 minutes, then (the client) only pays for 30 minutes. There’s no flat rate,” Ashlie Heath, salon manager, told CNN.

Before the switch, Goldie x Bob charged an average of $60 for men with short hair for a wash and cut. Women typically charged $85 for the same service.

The difference, Burns told CNN, is explained by the fact that her female clients typically have longer hair that requires a blow-dry and takes longer to style. Clients with hair that covers their heads — which is mostly men — need less styling and are usually okay with letting it air dry, she said.

But “it feels stale and old-fashioned to keep moving in that direction,” Burns said, adding that the move toward gender-neutral pricing is an effort to “promote inclusivity and equity.” She has seen an increase in male and non-binary customers visiting the salon since the change, she said.

Rankin, at the Dresscode Project, would agree. “Hair has no gender at all,” they say. “It’s just dead cells on the top of your head.”