After taking aim at the gender pay gap on Tuesday, President Barack Obama may not be done when it comes to leveling the playing field. There are additional issues to be addressed, such as dry cleaning.
“We’ll talk about dry cleaners next, right,” Obama said, prompting laughter from an audience full of women, “because I know that — I don’t know why it costs more for Michelle’s blouse than my shirt.”
White House press secretary Jay Carney, when asked about the disparity in dry cleaning prices, said “it’s terrible.”
While this isn’t anything new, The Washington Post has some concrete numbers, thanks to a 2009 survey that was done in New York. Then, a woman’s shirt cost an average of $4.95 to dry clean while men only paid $2.86 on average.
Surprisingly, there’s no overarching federal law that prohibits such a practice of charging men and women different prices for similar services.
