As Women’s History Month comes to a close we must take the time to recognize a large achievement for women made this month — the U.S. Women’s Hockey team makes progress in closing the wage gap.
The U.S. Women’s National Hockey team will play their first game in the 2017 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship on Friday, March 31st; however, two weeks prior the team threatened to sit out the championships.
This decision was made in protest of an unfair wage gap between the women and men’s teams. Them team said they weren’t going to play until USA Hockey made advances in negotiations regarding equal pay and equal treatment.
On Tuesday, USA Hockey and the team reached a four-year deal which increases the women’s pay and provides them with the same treatment as the men’s team. Before this deal was reached the women were only paid $1,000 a month 6 months prior to the Olympic games and were paid “virtually nothing” the other 3 1/2, non-Olympic, years.
USA Hockey spent $3.5 million a year to promote the boy’s team, without spending a comparable amount on women’s hockey.
The new deal will grant each player $70,000 a year with the potential to make six figures during Olympic years. The women are also guaranteed $2,000 a month over the 4 year period.
Before the deal was reached USA Hockey spent $3.5 million a year to promote the boy’s team, without spending a comparable amount on women’s hockey. The new deal estimates that they will spend $950,000 on the team, in 2017.
Along with an increase in pay, the women will also receive the same treatment and accommodations during the World Championships as the men; a luxury that the women never had.
The final part of the deal is the formation of a Women’s High Performance Advisory Group which will be composed of former and current members of the team. This group will focus on advancing girl’s and women’s hockey.
“this empowered women all over the world – and not only those involved in sports.”
Even though the team is not seen as an equal to the men’s team the deal made is a step in the right direction. U.S. forward, Hilary Knight, told USA Today Sports, “this empowered women all over the world – and not only those involved in sports.”
As we wrap up Women’s History Month these small victories for women are what we need to celebrate. Despite the belief of many, we still have a long way to go in achieving gender equality. Women all over the world, not just in sports, receive unfair wages compared to their male counterparts. While the deal made with USA Hockey doesn’t solve the issue all over the world its progress that must be celebrated.
