Dear USWNT:
You may have won back-to-back Women's World Cups, but you also lost 5-0 to a 13/14yr old boys team from Texas. That is, in a nutshell, why you make less money than the USMNT.
They lost 5-2 in a practice scrimmage, which is-was little more than "Hey, here's a ball and let's kick it around for a bit" like in the yard.
The reason they make less money is men are chauvinist assholes who in the workplace believe women aren't valued enough to make equal pay. When you have a wife and daughter, and you see this ignorant and outdated bullshitt first-hand, it takes on more meaning.
Any of you who have wives or girlfriends who work, ask them if they believe they are being paid the same amount as their male counterparts. Ask your grandmother who might have worked at Kress or for a state agency if they were treated differently. If they say they don't believe they make the same money or were treated differently, tell them that's the way it should be and to go make a sandwich. See what happens.
Respectfully, sir, I do not believe that to be the case today. The female engineers, project managers, etc. where I work make the same or more than their male counterparts. Now, the 10-12 female accounting clerks DO make less than the -male (and female) engineers, but they make the same as the (one) male accounting clerk with similar experience levels.
It has been illegal to differentiate salaries between males and females in equivalent positions, with equivalent experience, for a number of years. The only way that the salary differential argument works is if you compare all female salaries, including daycare workers and grocery store cashiers, to all male salaries, including loggers, engineers, welders, etc.
Female employees are generally less likely to volunteer for overtime and/or extra shifts, which contributes to salary difference. Hell, even in the early 80's the companies that I worked for paid the same REGARDLESS of male or female, if you could do the work. In a production (piece rate) environment, though, most women that I supervised CHOSE to make less and not bust ass for the full shift, even though everyone had the exact same piece rate. And I ain't talking about busting rocks, either. I'm talking about sew plants that were air conditioned, and the harder jobs, that justifiably had a higher piece rate, were almost 100% men, with never a female to even bid on them or attempt to get qualified.
In my current situation, the females in our department make the same or more than the males AT THE SAME EXPERIENCE LEVEL. I deal with a number of highly skilled, professional female salespeople who FAR outpace their male counterparts, and they are paid accordingly.
If you CHOOSE to take 2-10 years off (male or female) when you have kids, it doesn't matter if you are 35 and your coworker is 27. You both have the same years of job experience, regardless of age.
I read recently some statistics about career choices. The 10 lowest paying careers were dominated by women (9/10), and the 10 highest paying careers were dominated by men (8/10).
Not because of chauvinism, but because your regular dude ain't gonna chase a $7 an hour daycare job when the Caterpillar plant down the road pays $21.50 an hour for the guy who lifts tractor tires all day.
Ask yourself how many women go to welding school, even though it is common knowledge that a gold card welder can make $75,000 their first year out of training. Then go back and look at how many women are paying for a 4 year degree in early childhood education, that will make you $35,000 IF you get picked for a public school job, and $24,000 if you have to go private schools.
