The United States’s women’s soccer team is not only dominating the field with their 2-0 World Cup final win over the Netherlands, but also advocating for the increasing need for equal pay.
After four World Cup title wins, America’s female players in the 2019 Women’s World Cup were only offered $30 million in prize money, as opposed to the $400 million handed out at the 2018 Men’s World Cup. America’s men’s soccer team has yet to win a World Cup.
According to Mother Jones, the US women’s national soccer team sued the US Soccer Federation in March, alleging “intentional gender discrimination” in wage compensation and resources in comparison to the US men’s team. In 2016, a previous complaint was filed by five team members to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging wage discrimination. An agreement with the team was reached for higher pay.
“Despite the fact that these female and male players are called upon to perform the same job responsibilities on their teams and participate in international competitions for their single common employer, the USSF, the female players have been consistently paid less money than their male counterparts,” attorneys for the players wrote in the lawsuit.
The debate on the gender pay gap has taken center stage in recent years as players around the world demanded equality from the international governing body of soccer, FIFA. During the postgame ceremonies, fans erupted into chants shouting for “equal pay” as FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, walked onto the field.
Data from the US Census Bureau, highlights that a woman working a full-time, year-round job earns 80.7% as much as her male counterpart earns with variance across state lines.
President Barack Obama, our 2019 National Diversity Conference keynote speaker, commended the US women’s soccer team for their FIFA World Cup win in Lyon, France.
“Yes! Fourth star. Back to back. Congrats to the record breakers on the @USWNT, an incredible team that’s always pushing themselves—and the rest of us—to be even better. Love this team,” President Obama tweeted.
The National Diversity Council recognizes the power in equal pay across genders, seeing that the glass ceiling still exists for women across various career fields. As we advocate on behalf of various groups, we must not neglect the financial discrepancies in terms of wage compensation between genders.
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