The Double Tax

The 'pink tax' has gained widespread recognition in recent years: we know that it costs more to be a woman, both in terms of lost earnings and the higher price of products marketed to women. But what happens when you look at the costs across racial lines?

In The Double Tax, Harvard researcher Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman summarises the disparities that women face as they navigate life's biggest moments. The numbers reveal that Black and white women lead vastly different lives, marked by dramatic gaps in job opportunities, salaries, housing costs, childcare access and generational wealth. She coins this gap as the 'double tax' - the compounded cost of racism and sexism.

Through rigorous research and interviews with women, Opoku-Agyeman calculates the extra money, time and effort that women are forced to pay at every stage of their life. She also offers actionable solutions for how everyday people, local communities and global leaders alike can help relieve women of these costs for good.


Only by understanding where the gaps are and where the double tax arises can we begin to even the playing field for all.