 Did you know that professional female soccer players are getting paid around $40,000 per season, yet male soccer players are getting showered in $250,000 to $300,000 per season? Yep, it's true. The U.S. Women's National soccer team won the World Cup this year and got paid 30 million dollars, meanwhile, the World Cup for professional men's soccer, in 2018, gave 38 million dollars to the winning team, France. In addition to pay, their complaints include worse playing fields, lack of private flights and less promotion than the men's team. According to ESPN “The U.S. women have been fighting for equality for some time. In 2016, five high-profile members of the USWNT -- Carli Lloyd, Hope Solo, Alex Morgan, Rapinoe and Becky Sauerbrunn -- filed a complaint against the United States Soccer Federation (commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer) with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The complaint remains pending in California.”
When the women returned with their second consecutive world championship and fourth overall, it seemed like they were selling themselves short by simply asking to be treated the same. The men have never made it past the quarterfinals of their World Cup and didn’t even qualify for the last one. According to the Los Angeles Times, “the women’s lawsuit and the equal pay argument focus largely on bonuses and other issues related to national team games. A player on the U.S. men’s national team can make as much as $17,625 depending on the opponent and the outcome, court documents allege. A women’s player would get about half that for a comparable result.” Many people support Equal Pay for women soccer, including many US soccer followers, other women's teams, and the US Men's professional team. The U.S. men's team issued a statement in support of the USWNT, saying, "The members of the United States National Soccer Team Players Association once again stand with the members of the world champion Women's National Team in their pursuit of fair compensation for their work as professional soccer players. The USMNT players were not impressed with US Soccer Federation president, Carlos Cordeiro's, letter made public. The Federation downplays contributions to the sport when it suits them. This is more of the same." All of the players on the women's national team are fighting for this and have things to say about it. “Everyone is kind of asking what’s next and what we want to come of all of this,” Megan Rapinoe said hours after the World Cup final. “It’s to stop having the conversation about equal pay. It’s time to sit down with everyone and really get to work.” My opinion on the matter is that equal pay should be enhanced for women's soccer. I absolutely love to play soccer and think its an amazing sport in general. I would like to be somewhat of a soccer player when I get older. I want that generation to be different than the one for soccer now, which includes equal pay and women get treated the same as men. As of right now, all the women on the national team are having to have two jobs while most men are just playing pro soccer and gaining a larger revenue than the women. The USWNT deserves to be paid the same as men, they are both great teams who are completely equal and payment should be fair. Many other women teams have this problem for soccer but are fixing it. According to Los Angeles Times, “Norway figured that out 18 months ago when its federation became the first to agree to equal pay for its men’s and women’s teams, with the men agreeing to take a cut to make that happen.” So why doesn't the US federation make this leap and create a big jump for the next generation of US soccer stars? Story by Lily Severance  The darker the blue, the higher that state was ranked. There are 50 states in America, and people live in all of them. If you wanted to, you could move to any of them. To help you become familiar with them, I have gathered data from 3 different websites: USA Today, Wallethub and CNBC. I will be going over which five states were ranked highest, which ones specialize in certain categories, and other interesting data about other states.
5. Vermont: Vermont has the 6th lowest unemployment rate, 3rd smallest increase in population change, and it was also ranked #1 in education and health. It is very expensive, but fortunately the weather makes up for it. It has lows in the 10’s in winter, but great cool summers, with highs in the 70s, sometimes reaching the 80’s. 4. Colorado: Colorado has the 4th lowest annual unemployment rate and the 4th highest economy rank. However, it’s not very affordable. It has beautiful mountains with a very high elevation which is great for those who like skiing. Though, it’s cold: it can reach 14 degrees Fahrenheit in January. 3. New Hampshire: New Hampshire has the lowest poverty rate in America. It has a very low crime rate and a great economy, but it was ranked 42nd for affordability. However, the weather never gets too hot or too cold, and it is great for people who love the rain. 2. Minnesota: Minnesota has the 2nd longest life expectancy, the 4th lowest poverty rate, and it was also ranked at 3rd for education and health. It is quite snowy, with annual highs in the 80’s, and brutally cold winters. 1. Massachusetts: Massachusetts was ranked the highest, and for a good reason. It has the 5th longest life expectancy, 2nd in economy, 2nd in education and health, 3rd in quality of life and 4th in safety - its only flaw is its affordability, which got ranked at 43. And if that’s not enough, there are great attractions such as Cape Cod beaches, and activities such as whale watching and the Freedom Trail. It has annual highs in the 70’s, and the winters are in the 20s, so it’s cold, but not hypothermia-cold. After reading about these states, you might have noticed something: they are all quite expensive and up north where it is more chilly. If you prefer the heat, or just don’t want to live in an expensive area, here are some higher-ranked states that are affordable and warm (not in any particular order):
As you can tell by the writing so far, there are categories that states are ranked in, like “education” and “life expectancy”. So, to wrap this up, I will go over every category’s state that ranked highest. Don’t worry, it’s not a lot to read: The smallest increase in population change: Rhode Island. Rhode Island got ranked 15th overall. Lowest unemployment rate: Hawaii. Hawaii got ranked 7th overall. Lowest poverty rate: New Hampshire. New Hampshire got ranked 3rd overall. Longest life expectancy: Hawaii again. Most affordable: Alabama. Alabama got ranked 47th overall. Best economy: North Dakota. North Dakota got ranked 14th overall. Highest “education and health” ranking: Vermont. Vermont got ranked 5th overall. Highest “quality of life” ranking: New York. New York got ranked 16th overall. Most safe: New Jersey. New Jersey got ranked 6th overall. Well, that’s it. I just went over the best states to live in America, and after reading this, I hope you know some states you would like to live in or visit one day. If you are still undecided, feel free to check out the websites on your own by following the links in the first paragraph. Story by Rowyn Esslinger |
