EQUAL PAY

Procter & Gamble Donates $529,000 to U.S. Women’s Soccer Team

The sum includes $23,000 for each player to help close the pay gap.

Procter & Gamble, whose Secret deodorant brand is a sponsor of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, has pledged $529,000 to the team to help close the wage gap. The figure will provide all 23 World Cup team members with $23,000 to help close the gap between what the U.S. national men’s and women’s teams earn. In a full-page ad in a number of publications on Sunday, the company urged the U.S. Soccer Federation to “be on the right side of history.” The U.S. women won the World Cup in France earlier this month and have used their celebratory platform to call for equal pay. “Let’s take this moment of celebration to propel women’s sports forward,” Secret says in the full page ad. “We urge the U.S. Soccer Federation to be a beacon of strength and end gender pay inequality once and for all.” Last March, 28 members of the national women’s team sued the U.S. Soccer Federation for gender discrimination.