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US men's and women's soccer teams finally have equal pay. Here's what that means.

soccer, pay equity
Photo by Emilio Garcia on Unsplash, Tim Ream/Twitter

U.S. men's and women's soccer teams will now receive equal pay.

The U.S. women's national soccer team (USWNT) is the winningest women's soccer team on Earth, holding four FIFA World Cup titles, four Olympic gold medals and eight CONCACAF Gold Cups. In the three years following their 2015 World Cup win, the women's team also generated more game revenue than the U.S. men's national soccer team (USMNT).

The U.S. men's national soccer team team, on the other hand, has never won a World Cup and has brought in less game revenue than the women's team in recent years. And yet, players on the women's team have continued to get paid thousands of dollars less than their male counterparts. This pay discrepancy resulted in two major lawsuits against the U.S. Soccer Federation, one by five women's players in 2016 and one by 28 players in 2019.

In February 2022, a settlement was reached, which has the U.S. Soccer Federation paying $22 million in back pay to the women's team players. And on May 18, U.S. Soccer Federation announced a deal that will have players for the USMNT and USWNT being paid equally until at least 2028.

One of the realities some people used to justify the gap in pay between the men's and women's players is that prize money for the men's World Cup is higher. And not just a little higher—the winner of the men's World Cup receives a payout nearly 10 times higher than the women's. That's not a function of the U.S. soccer program itself, but of the international sport.

There has also been some confusion over pay inequity as the two teams had different collective bargaining agreements that had their pay structures set up differently.

However, the new collective bargaining agreements will close the compensation gap for U.S. players by splitting appearance fees, winnings and bonuses equally between both squads. The U.S Soccer Federation is the first in the world to equalize World Cup prize money between the men's and women's teams.


"This is a truly historic moment," U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone said in a statement. "These agreements have changed the game forever here in the United States and have the potential to change the game around the world."

One interesting element in the dispute over equal pay is that the men's team has supported the women's team in advocating for it. In fact, in 2021, the USMNT players union argued that the women's team should be paid more than the men's team.

So perhaps it's no surprise to see USMNT defender Tim Ream applauding the equal pay agreement on Twitter, writing, "Been a long process for all sides but proud of everyone involved for reaching and achieving this. It now truly is One Nation, One Team."

After players spent years advocating for pay equity, USWNT Players Association President Becky Sauerbrunn issued a statement acknowledging the work that went into achieving it.

"The accomplishments in this CBA are a testament to the incredible efforts of WNT Players on and off the field. The gains we have been able to achieve are both because of the strong foundation laid by the generations of WNT Players that came before the current team and through our union's recent collaboration with our counterparts at the USNSTPA [United States National Soccer Team Players Assocation] and leadership at USSF," she wrote.

"We hope that this Agreement and its historic achievements in not only providing for equal pay but also in improving the training and playing environment for national team players will similarly serve as the foundation for continued growth of women's soccer both in the United States and abroad."

Time will tell how the U.S. agreements impact the sport in the rest of the world, but the U.S. women's team is leading the way for equal pay for equal work. One more important win for this extraordinary team.

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'Lazy' mom of four shares a video of her incredibly messy home and parents love her for it

"It's not dirty, it's just messy."

via themessymama4/TikTok

Bri James and her messy (not dirty) home.

It’s hard to keep your home clean when you have a child, but when you have four, unless you have a live-in maid, it’s completely impossible. There is no dishwasher fast enough to keep up with the dishes in the sink and no magical point where all four children have it together enough to put their toys away.

The problem is that if you take your eyes off the prize and let a day go by without cleaning up, you’re practically drowning in chaos.

TikTok user and stay-at-home mom Bri James (aka @themessymama4) did the unthinkable and let her home go four days without tidying up and shared the incredible mess with everyone on TikTok.


"I know I'm going to get roasted," she says in the clip, "but ... this is what happens when two really lazy adults have four kids and don't clean up after themselves."

The clip shows cutlery on the floor, empty packets everywhere, dishes piled a mile-high in the sink, and clothes and toys strewn everywhere. The house looks like the parents went away on a permanent vacation and left their kids to fend for themselves.

The video was praised by a lot of parents who are tired of seeing mommy influencers with spotless homes and children in matching linen outfits. Finally, there was a mom on TikTok they could relate to.

"I'd MUCH rather see you clean your realistic house than watch another blonde clean an already clean countertop," Meghan Sanders wrote.

TikTokker Its_not_that_serious put things in perfect perspective. "Dude, at the end of the day all of their fingers and toes are attached and feeling safe and loved you’re doing fine. Someday the house will be clean," they wrote.

"Having children is mentally and physically exhausting and you don’t always have the energy to clean every day," Rose added.

But not everyone appreciated Bri's slice of reality. Some people thought that her messiness was borderline neglectful and that she was setting a terrible example for her children.

"Set a good example for your kids. Make them help," carleebocciaa wrote.

"Without children = fine, your choice. With children (especially small ones) = completely unacceptable," ACZOgirly wrote.

Shortly after posting her first video, Bri got to work on the impossible task of cleaning up the entire house. Noticeably absent from the job were her spouse and four children. She appears to clean the entire place by herself.

She showed her cleaning prowess through a series of fast-motion videos.

@themessymama4

my butt does not look flattering in these Walmart lounge pants 🤦🏼‍♀️😅

Finally, at 9:30 p.m., Bri was done with most of the job, although she still had a bit of vacuuming to do and there were still some dishes in the sink. At the end of the job, she was exhausted. But she got the job done and that’s all that matters. It’s OK to let your house fall into disarray from time to time but eventually, you have to take care of business.

@themessymama4

I'm going to bed now. 🤣🥱😴

We’ll give TikTokker Sannon Martin the final word on this story because she hits the nail on the head. “Your home is exactly like mine,” she wrote. “Some days it’s a wreck and some days it looks amazing. That’s life. You’re doing great!”


This article originally appeared on 03.05.22

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