On Equal Pay Day, U.S. Rep. Castor Calls for Female Athletes to be Paid on Par with Male Counterparts

Press Release

Today on Equal Pay Day, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14) introduced a resolution to the U.S. House calling for female athletes to be paid on par with their male counterparts. The resolution also calls for organizers of world class competitions to actively take part in combating the wage gap.

"Today on Equal Pay Day, we must recommit ourselves to fully and finally securing fairness, equality and economic justice for women," U.S. Rep. Castor said. "Pay discrimination persists in all types of workplaces, even in athletic settings for our female athletes: despite continuing to break attendance and viewership records and many times generating more revenue than the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team, the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team has faced an outsized wage and treatment gap compared to their male counterparts. This and any kind of inequitable treatment is wrong and I am proud of the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team for recently standing up for pay equity when they filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the United States Soccer Federation. The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team athletes serve as courageous role models for pay equity and equal treatment."

U.S. Reps. Rosa DeLauro (CT3), Rick Larsen (WA2) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL23) are original cosponsors of U.S. Rep. Castor's resolution.

Equal Pay Day symbolizes the date into the year when women's wages finally catch up to what similarly situated men were paid in the previous year. Hardworking Florida women earn only 87 cents for every dollar earned by a man -- amounting to a median annual wage gap of $5,501. This inequity impacts lifetime earnings and retirement savings.

Last week, U.S. Rep. Castor helped lead the charge in passing H.R. 7, the landmark Paycheck Fairness Act, which updates and strengthens the Equal Pay Act of 1963. Among its many key provisions, the Paycheck Fairness Act requires employers to prove and justify that pay disparities are legitimate and are not sex-based, bans retaliation against workers who voluntarily discuss or disclose their wages and ensures women can receive the same robust remedies for sex-based pay discrimination that are currently available to those subjected to discrimination based on race and ethnicity.

"My Democratic colleagues in the U.S. House and I understand how pay inequities are a drag on the economic prospects of families across America. We will continue to stand up for equal pay until we have fully secured economic justice for women and progress for working families. Calling for equal pay for our female athletes is just one of many ways we can push for equal rights for women across our nation -- because when women succeed, America succeeds," U.S. Rep. Castor concluded.

U.S. Rep. Castor serves as a co-chair of the Congressional Soccer Caucus and has been a longtime proponent of equal rights for the nation's female athletes, including filing a resolution in 2015 expressing that female athletes should be paid the same as their male counterparts, advocating for equity at U.S. Soccer and urging organizers of world class competitions to actively combat the wage gap. She has also pressed on the need for better female representation within FIFA.

Source