Yesterday was a HUGE day for the United States Women's Soccer team as they won their record-breaking fourth World Cup championship.
But as you may know, just because the women won big (AGAIN) doesn't mean their fight for equal pay is over. In fact, it's far from it.
Allow me to explain what's going on, in case you haven't been following the news over the last several weeks.
The women's soccer team is currently suing the U.S. Soccer Federation for gender discrimination, with a focus on the pay gap between the men's and women's teams.
And the crowds at the women's World Cup finale yesterday morning seem to agree that it's time for this issue to be resolved. When FIFA President Gianni Infantino took the stage after the U.S. beat the Netherlands 2-0, the crowd in France broke into a chant: "Equal pay! Equal pay!"
The thing is: on Sunday, the US women's team won more World Cup championships than any other team has... and the men's team has won none.
The lawsuit filed against the U.S. Soccer Federation has to do with the fact that, despite not being nearly as successful, the men's players typically make three times as much as the women's players.
FIFA also awards a much different amount of money: for women, the pot was $30 million. And for men it is usually around $400 million.
The U.S. Soccer has said that the women are paid less because their games typically bring in less revenue and lower ratings... But according to the federation's own financial reports, the women's team generated more total revenue than the men's in the three years after the women's 2015 World Cup victory.
YIKES.
All of these facts make it clear that something has to change, but how can people like YOU and I help?
It's pretty simple: just support the women's teams as much as possible.
Follow the team and the players on social media, show your support when and where you can, stream their games online, go to a game if possible (it's not always easy and sometimes expensive, we know!!) and of course, talk to other people about the pay gap issue.
WE GOT THIS! And a huge congratulations to the US Women's team for their win yesterday. We're so proud!
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Photo: Getty Images