Yahoo Finance The cafe charging men an 18% tax to reflect the gender pay gap
A cafe in Melbourne, Australia, is levying a tax on male customers to highlight the discrepancies in pay between men and women.
While the initiative is optional and only applicable for one week of every month, the cafe, Handsome Her, has stirred debate on social media since a photo of its chalkboard was posted on Twitter.
The chalkboard reads: “House Rules, Rule #1: women have priority seating. Rule #2: men will be charged an 18% premium to reflect the gender pay gap (2016) which is donated to a women’s service. Rule #3 respect goes both ways.”
Would LOVE everyones thoughts on this. My friends cafe in #Brunswick, Handsom Her – is for women by women AND an has a 18% gender tax! pic.twitter.com/tVSX3PO4q8
— Paige Cardona (@paigecardona) August 3, 2017
Speaking to Australian publication, Broadsheet, the cafe’s owner Alex O’Brien said: “I do want people to think about it, because we’ve had this (pay discrepancy) for decades and decades and we’re bringing it to the forefront of people’s minds. I like that it is making men stop and question their privilege a little bit.”
MORE: Here’s how UK employers could help to close the gender pay gap
However, some on social media were quick to hit out at the cafe’s cause. One response to the tweet read “It is stereotyping and showing prejudices against Men and for Women. #StopIt #EqualityforAll #doublestandards” while another said “Discrimination is illegal, regardless of the spurious intent. Do they hire male staff or do they discriminate there too?”.
Despite the criticism, O’Brien said there had been “nothing but positivity from everyone, males and females.” One man even donated $50 dollar’s to Handsome Her’s cause.
Handsome Her’s idea to add a men’s premium came about as a result of brainstorming ways to raise money for women’s charities.
“One of my friends who works for a not-for-profit women’s service was talking about the pay gap and I thought it was a good idea, so we decided that one week every month we would charge men an 18 per cent premium, which we will donate,” O’Brien said.
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The pay differential of 17.7% for men and women in Australia is similar to that in the UK, which currently stands at 18.1%.
O’Brien is keen to point out that the surcharge is voluntary: “Men are asked if they want to pay the charge before being charged.”
She added: “It is a bit more tongue in cheek. If someone doesn’t want to pay the tax, we will just wipe it.”
