A cafe introduced an 18% ‘man tax’ and people got really annoyed
A cafe in Australia has introduced an 18 percent ‘man tax’ to reflect the gender pay gap and people are really annoyed.
Alex O’Brien opened the Handsom Her café in Melbourne, and decided to charge the ‘tax’ to men, while women get preferential seating and pay the standard prices.
She also has two other policies in place to make the cafe a safe space for women.
Women get “priority seating”, and “respect goes both ways”.
The money raised by the 18 percent ‘man tax’ is donated to women’s charities.
Speaking to the Mirror, O’Brien said: “We’re bringing it [the gender pay gap] to the forefront of people’s minds. I like that it is making men stop and question their privilege a little bit.
“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% premium, which we will donate.”
But despite the policy only being in place once a month, many have taken to Twitter to express their disgust at the policy.
Responding to a Twitter post by a friend of O’Brien, one man said: “I’m going to go to your friends cafe in protest, order a sammich and I will outright refuse to pay their illegal 18% “man” tax. Sue me!”
Another added: “I think if you want to fight for equality then surely treating everyone the same is the way to go.”.
Others called O’Brien “sexist” and said that the policy was contributing to the problem of the gender pay gap.
Going on, O’Brien did add though, that the ‘tax’ would not be compulsory for any men who refused to pay it.
“If men don’t want to pay it, we’re not going to kick them out the door,” she said.
“It’s just an opportunity to do some good.”
In Australia, the gender pay gap is estimated at 18 percent, while in the UK it is approximately 19.2 percent.
The Women and Equalities Select Committee, headed up by Maria Miller, has said the Government is “complicit in a system that is undermining productivity and perpetuating the gender pay gap.”
“The gender pay gap is holding back women and that isn’t going to change unless the Government changes its policies now.
“The pay gap represents a massive loss to the UK’s economy and we must address it in the face of an ageing workforce, a skills crisis and the need for a more competitive economy.”
