Womens football, Paygap, how is this legal and why is no one talking about it?

[Stupidbonfire]

Just as the title says really. I don’t understand how it’s legal to pay the women footballers so much less. The equality’s act 2010 seems to support equal pay for effort put in.

Am I being stupid? Could someone explain to me how the law is applied in this instance that it’s legal for such pay disparity and why the media seems silent on addressing it?

The women footballers have done our country proud and surely they deserve the same remuneration as the men would.

thank you so much.

They get paid the same for national
appearances I think.

Club teams another matter but I would guess the teams are savvy enough to have the mens and womens teams set up as separate entities so they can’t be accused of paying people differently for the same job.

In terms of why clubs pay men more it’s down to the revenue they produce largely (although I totally accept sometimes you need to spend the money to get them to the standard that would make it more popular to generate that revenue).

When playing for England they do receive the same pay as male footballers and have done since 2020.

When it comes to club football, clubs receive much less sponsorship, gate fees etc.... sadly for women's football so it is a business decision I assume for them. It is sad, but clubs would go under pretty quickly when they are paying out millions more than they would receive. To change it the public do need to step up and support women's football more.

I cannot believe that you cannot figure this out! Beyonce earns more than James Arthur but they are both singers, however one off them produces rather more revenue than the other.

Players don’t get paid for international games, they get paid by their club. The fact of the matter is that mens football tickets sell in larger quantities for bigger amounts of money, and where most premier league teams make their money is sky/bt sport/Amazon prime TV deals, and they aren’t buying the womens games.

If there isn’t the demand for it nothing will change. It’s all well and good watching one game and calling for it but are you going to watch your local WSL team, buying merch/kit?

Am I being stupid?

No, not actually stupid but it appears you've done no research at all before starting the thread.

The Lionesses get exactly the same appearance money as the men’s team for England games. But the average attendance for the WSL is c.1000. Do you go to the club matches regularly? Do you know many who do? Until people distinguish between the steady state league fixtures and high profile, one off tournaments then these misconceptions will persist. Once women’s football grows (which I would hope it would) and generates equal levels of revenue, then there will be a better argument for pay levelling. But the law states equal pay for work of equal value - as things stand a case for this would fail.

England players (male and female) receive a flat fee of £2,000 per game paid for by the FA. The male players have donated this to NHS charities since 2008.

Is it international appearances that you're talking about here, if so have you checked to see if there's a disparity? If you're including club contracts and salaries, have you actually thought it through?

Male players don't get paid the same as each other, for doing the same job. Admittedly, no law says they should. Women earn less than some men for the same reason that some men earn less than other men, they aren't worth as much, literally, in terms of their expected contribution to club finances. However it's an interesting question (that I don't know the answer to) why equality legislation doesn't apply in this case.

If the legislation were somehow to be applied, I doubt that it would lead to women being paid more. In that case, a sensible solution would be to replace "mens" football with "open" football. Meaning any woman who is good enough can qualify for what used to be the mens team, and get pay in the same league. Any pay average disparity can be justified by comparing them with men of the same ability.

It’s called supply and demand. Men’s football generates billions worldwide and commands huge audiences. Most people couldn’t have picked an England women’s team player out of a lineup before yesterday.

It’s nothing like a man and a woman being paid different rates for the same job. Do you think every defender in Manchester United’s men’s team is on the same salary? They earn what they can negotiate. A player who comes in from a top Spanish or Italian club and has Champions League experience will get a better contract than the promising youngster who has only played in the Championship.

I can’t believe anyone doesn’t understand this.

Do you think everyone in the Premier League gets paid the same as well? Or should be? The most talented, those that will sell the most t-shirts get paid orders or magnitude more than others. Can you see all the women's team earning as much as Ronaldo? Even though most of the time they are playing in nearly empty stadia? Until people go to women's games in the same numbers as the men's, it won't and can't happen.

Maybe the reason the legislation doesn't apply, is because they aren't doing the same job? Playing for a women's team is not the same thing as playing for a men's team? If women or men were able to play for the opposite-sex team, for some reason, then probably the legislation would apply.

Aren’t they employed by different companies? There’s no legal obligation for equal pay except within the same company.

As above. The England men and women get the same for international appearances. The men always donate theirs to charity, I dont know about the women.

It would be hard to apply a gender pay gap claim as they dont do the same job. Even men on the same team dont earn the same wage.

However it's an interesting question (that I don't know the answer to) why equality legislation doesn't apply in this case.

Because this isn’t a case of men and women being paid different rates for the same job. They’re essentially two different jobs. Women can’t join men’s teams and vice versa. There is no way a woman can do the job of professional footballer in the men’s game.

Because one produces more revenue than the other

Mens football is widely more popular, producing more sponsors for them, revenue for the clubs etc.

The more popular womens football gets the more money to be made, the higher wages will get.

Not really that difficult to understand really

I can’t believe anyone doesn’t understand this.

Everyone understands this. What they don't understand is why legislation that say different people can't be paid different amounts doesn't apply. There is no legislation that says one man can't be paid more than another, there is legislation that says women can't be paid less than men, in general.

Players in the National League don't get paid anywhere near the high wages in the Premier League for the same, very obvious reasons!

Because it’s based on the amount of money they generate as it should be?

Imo it makes us seem kind of pathetic and leeching if we say, “hey we want to have a national womens team with the same governing body as the mens. Oh now we’re doing the same job as the men, equal pay please”. And the equal pay comes from the mens team providing us with it.

Is that what equal pay means? That we attach ourselves to something men have made and force them to give us half the money their making like some kind of bizzaro feminist shotgun marriage we they provide for us?

For the same job. Female professional footballer and male professional footballer are two different jobs.

Lets hope their profiles are lifted by yesterdays results.I was transfixed to watch the whole match and I dont like football at all.

I don't know a single person who watches women's football outside of the big tournaments, whereas nearly every man I know religiously follows a football team, sometimes several across different countries, go to matches, buy season tickets, merch etc etc.

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