A Majority of Voters Support Equal Pay Between the U.S. Women’s and Men’s National Soccer Teams
By Tenneth Fairclough II
From today until August 20, 32 national teams from around the globe will compete in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, hosted by Australia and New Zealand. American soccer fans are excited to cheer for the U.S. team, which has won four World Cup titles, including the last two. However, despite that great success, the women’s national team has long fought for pay equity with the men’s national team.
Last year, the U.S. Soccer Federation settled a lawsuit with a group of players from the U.S. women’s national team over gender pay inequality. These players claimed in their lawsuit that the federation had been paying them less than their counterparts on the men’s team due to their gender since 2017. This lawsuit is only the latest example of gender pay discrimination that has plagued the U.S. since its founding. According to the Department of Labor’s latest figures, women working full-time, year-round are only paid 84% of what men are paid, and the disparity is even greater for Black and Latina women.
New polling from Data for Progress examined whether voters believe new legislation is needed to end the gender pay gap between women and men in general, and also gauged public support for requiring equal pay in the sports arena specifically.
We find that 62% of voters, including 75% of women and 48% of men, believe new legislation is needed to close the pay gap between women and men. Across partisanship, a strong majority of Democrats (80%) support this sentiment, as do a majority of Independents (55%) . However, similar to the rate among men, support was more evenly divided among Republican voters, with 48% saying new legislation is needed and 45% saying new legislation is unnecessary. Recent Data for Progress polling has also found that 77% of voters support the Paycheck Fairness Act.
As the U.S. women’s national team continues its push for equal pay, we find 72% of voters support pay equity between the men’s and women’s national teams. Across partisanship, Democrats show the strongest support at 83% (+71-point margin), alongside strong majorities of Independents (+43-point margin) and Republicans (+41-point margin). While men support this proposal by a +39-point margin, women show stronger support at 79% (+67-point margin).
We then informed voters of the recent lawsuit that was settled and asked whether they support or oppose the U.S. Soccer Federation’s pledge to equalize pay between both national teams in all competitions, including this year’s Women’s World Cup. We find 73% of voters support this pledge. Across partisanship, Democrats, Independents, and Republicans overwhelmingly support this pledge (83%, 70%, and 66%, respectively). Again, support is stronger among women (+71-point margin) than men (+40-point margin).
Lastly, we informed voters that President Joe Biden recently signed into law the Equal Pay for Team USA Act, which equalizes wages and benefits for all athletes who represent the U.S. globally, regardless of gender. We then asked voters if they would support similar legislation that would equalize wages and benefits for all athletes across professional sports leagues in the U.S., regardless of gender.
We find voters support this type of legislation by a +46-point margin. Across partisanship, Democrats overwhelmingly support this legislation at 82%, but it also enjoys majority support among both Independents (+36-point margin) and Republicans (+26-point margin). Also, 79% of women and 58% of men support this legislation.
Our polling results show that voters across party lines are overwhelmingly supportive of measures that will bridge the pay gap between women and men. As the U.S. women’s national team continues its fight for pay equity and begins its quest for another World Cup title, Congress must be willing to pass legislation that helps end gender pay discrimination not only in the workplace, but throughout professional sports leagues in the U.S.
Tenneth Fairclough II (@tenten_wins) is a polling analyst at Data for Progress.
Survey Methodology
From July 12 to 13, 2023, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 1,276 likely voters nationally using web panel respondents. The sample was weighted to be representative of likely voters by age, gender, education, race, geography, and voting history. The survey was conducted in English. The margin of error is ±3 percentage points.