Café charges men more to make a point about the gender wage gap

2025-04-27 16:02:54admin

Here's a way to get people talking about the wage gap.

Handsome Her, a café in Melbourne, Australia, that describes itself as a "space for by women, for women," has created quite the kerfuffle for its "house rules" blackboard it erected recently, highlighting the gender pay gap.

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"Men will be charged an 18 per cent premium to reflect the gender pay gap, which is donated to a women's service," reads the second rule of the board.

The other rules include women have priority seating, and that respect goes both ways.

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The figure is based off a 2016 report from Australia's Workplace Equality Agency, highlighting that on average, the full-time base salary for women across all industries is 17.7 percent less than men.

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Of course, the café has been on the receiving end of criticism on social media that its so-called tax is being divisive.

But the café owner, Alex O’Brien, told Broadsheeton Friday that the tax isn't being imposed and is "voluntary."

"Men are asked if they want to pay the charge before being charged," she told the publication. It's after all, meant to help raise money for women's charities.

Still, the café has had a "hectic couple of days," as per its Facebook post on Sunday.

Despite the furore, some men travelled across town to pay "the man tax" and it was jam-packed with customers over the weekend.

"In three days we have opened the cafe, withstood a social media storm, hosted a joyously entertaining trivia night for a fabulous women's network," the post reads.

"And gotten Australia talking about the long forgotten gender pay gap." It certainly did.

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