Hillary Clinton Campaign Press Release - One Photo From the US Women's Soccer Team Brought Attention To an Important Issue

It's time for us to change this.

This week, the world-champion U.S. women's soccer team was forced to cancel a game, because the field they were playing on looked like this:

One of the reasons @ussoccer canceled today's game in Hawaii. #USWNT pic.twitter.com/uKJUMmOCA5— Julie Foudy (@JulieFoudy) December 6, 2015

Unlike men's teams, women's professional soccer teams play on artificial turf instead of real grass.

And in this case, the issue went even deeper than the playing surface. This wasn't about the type of surface they were playing on—it was about the unsafe conditions on the field where they were expected to play their match. (You can read more here.)

Unfortunately, this second-class treatment isn't new.

This year, the U.S. women's team was awarded $2 million for winning the World Cup—just a quarter of what the men's team earned for making it to the first round.

Professional soccer isn't the only field where women aren't treated equally.

Women are still earning less than men in nearly every industry, despite the fact that a majority of families with children are being supported by women's salaries.

" When women are held back, our country is held back. When women get ahead, everyone gets ahead."Hillary Clinton, April 23, 2015

Women working full-time jobs aren't doing 22 percent less work than their male counterparts. So why are they being paid 78 percent as much—with women of color often losing out even more?

It's time to close the gender pay gap, fight for family leave, and make sure women are treated as equals in every field. Hillary will make sure that nothing stops women from reaching their full potential—so that everyone in this country can achieve their goals.

Learn more about Hillary's plan to go beyond closing the wage gap—and help our economy in the process.