 CLOSING THE GAP Tuesday, July 27, 2021 
As the United States women's national soccer team continues its fight for equal pay, the National Women's Soccer League Players Association (NWSLPA) is bringing attention to the low pay of professional athletes in the NWSL.
Last week, the NWSLPA launched a #NoMoreSideHustles campaign in an effort to call attention to the low salaries of NWSL players, which have caused many to pick up side jobs to make ends meet. Currently, the minimum player salary for the NWSL's 2021 season is $22,000 and the maximum player salary is $52,500. Of the roughly 200 players who are part of NWSLPA, a third make the league's minimum salary and about 75% make $31,000 or less, reports NWSLPA. By comparison, the average player in Major League Soccer earns $398,725 for the 2021 season.
"The continued raising of standards of the NWSL is a priority and that includes elevating the player experience in all aspects, including continuing to increase compensation," an NWSL spokesperson told CNBC Make It. The NWSL explains that since the league's start in 2012, player compensation has increased every year.
In response to NWSLPA's campaign calling out the league's low pay, several current and former players took to Twitter to share their stories of working two, and sometimes three, additional jobs while playing soccer professionally.
Jessica McDonald, a player for the North Carolina Courage of the NWSL, shared that she's "worked at Amazon packing boxes during 10 hour days" while also raising her son. And Kat Williamson, a former defender for the team Portland Thorns FC, said she has "cleaned homes for extra money and worked at a dental office as a receptionist."
Caroline Stanley, who played for several different NWSL teams from 2015 to 2018, shared with CNBC Make It that she relied on leftover money from her college scholarship stipend during her rookie year. At the time, she says, the league had a salary cap that only allowed teams to pay two goalkeepers, which meant that as a third-string goalkeeper she didn't get paid. Later that year when the first- and second-string goalkeepers got injured, Stanley stepped in to play and was given a prorated contract. But, even then she says the pay was less than a livable wage.
"I know for a fact I wasn't making close to $10,000 because I didn't have to pay taxes," she says. "I obviously reported everything and it's like, 'Oh, you're not making any money.'"
Meghann Burke, executive director of the NWSLPA, says the #NoMoreSideHustles campaign comes at a time when the players association is negotiating its first collective bargaining agreement with the league. Now, in its ninth season with 10 teams and several big-name sponsors, she says it "feels like the time to pivot" as the league is in a "strong position to pay these players a fair wage."
Click here to read the rest of the story about the NWSLPA's #NoMoreSideHustles campaign and be sure to reach out to me via email at courtney.connley@nbcuni.com or on Twitter @ClassicalyCourt to share your thoughts about the ongoing fight for equal pay in sports and other industries.  More articles from Closing the Gap Melinda French Gates, Alexis Ohanian and others call on Congress to pass paid family leave As the only industrialized nation without a paid family and medical leave policy, business leaders like philanthropist Melinda French Gates, tech entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian and others partnered with the National Partnership for Women & Families to urge Congress to pass a comprehensive paid family leave policy that will benefit all U.S. workers. Over a year after child-care centers reopened, families are still struggling Millions of parents have had their child-care options upended by the Covid-19 crisis. Now, as some day-care centers reopen, former Make It reporter Megan Leonhardt breaks down how many parents are struggling to adjust to the increased costs of child care as a result of the pandemic. Women and investors of color seem to prefer cryptocurrency over traditional stocks—here's why Roughly 41% of cryptocurrency traders today are women and roughly 44% are investors of color, according to a new survey from NORC at the University of Chicago. With both of these numbers being higher than the amount of women and people of color who invest in traditional stocks, Angela Fontes, vice president in the economics, justice and society department at NORC, explains to Make It reporter Nicolas Vega why cryptocurrency is becoming more appealing to underrepresented investors.
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Selasa, 27 Juli 2021
Pro women soccer players make as little as $22,000 a year: Now, they're saying #NoMoreSideHustles
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