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Q: When do WORLD CHAMPS get paid far less than LOSERS?
A: When they're women playing World Cup Soccer.
That’s not right. It’s not okay. We're calling a foul!
Soccer. I love soccer. I started playing soccer in my 30s. I’d been watching my kids play for years, tracking and loving the strategy of the game, and then... inspired by my kids… I jumped off the sidelines and onto the turf by joining two soccer teams, a women’s team and a co-ed team.
I’m far, far, (so far!) from a professional soccer player, but I can tell you that women and men work equally hard on the field at all levels of play. Equal.
Several members of the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team are taking action to level the playing and paying field by filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) because the U.S. Soccer Federation pays the reigning World Cup champions far less than their male counterparts.
For a long time, officials brushed off this pay disparity and pushed back, saying that there aren’t enough viewers of women’s soccer (which, as noted above, is flat out not true). Or saying that women’s soccer doesn’t generate as much revenue.... But that’s also flat out not true. The EEOC filing, citing figures from the USSF's 2015 financial report, says that despite the women's team generating nearly $20 million MORE revenue last year than the U.S. men's team, the women are paid about a quarter of what the men earn.
We’ve got to keep at this.
Equal pay matters on every field. Believe it or not, what happens on the sports playing field directly impacts the corporate field. A new study found the correlation between women’s success on sports playing fields and their success in the workplace is indisputable. "Girls who play sports have greater social and economic mobility, grow up healthy and confident, and perform better in school. In fact, 74% of executive women agreed that a background in sports can help accelerate a woman’s leadership and career potential.” - Fortune Magazine.
Yet women still don’t get fair pay in any field in our nation. Despite the fact that studies show that when there are more women in leadership, and on the field, the profits rise. It’s all connected. So when we fight for fair pay on one field that hard work ripples in good ways into other fields as well.
It’s time to stand up for girls to all have the same opportunities. For women to be paid fairly and equally. And to keep at it until we win.
Please take a moment to share this action link on Facebook and Twitter, to sign on yourself, and to spread the word. The more of us who take action, the faster we’ll close the wage gaps. *Here’s that link again so you have it handy: action.momsrising.org/sign/EqualPay_4_USWomensSoccer/?source=blog
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