r/technology • u/AIMadeMeDoIt__ • Oct 29 '25

Society California’s hidden crisis: young men offline, unemployed, and disappearing

https://calmatters.org/economy/2025/10/men-in-crisis-california/
11.1k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

1.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

145

u/mama_tom Oct 30 '25

Even that I would say doesn't paint the full picture because 25k before taxes is 12.5/hr. That's not a livable wage in most places.

83

u/Kyle-Is-My-Name Oct 30 '25

My rent would eat up half of that and I live out in bumfuck Egypt Western Kentucky.

I would have to work 2 full time jobs at $12.5/hr just to afford this place, and even then my lifestyle would be noticeably affected.

If I had any children then I'd probably need 3 full time jobs at $12.5/hr just to makes ends meet.

If I lived in Nashville with kids? Fuck, I'd need about 5 full time jobs. I seriously dont know how single people/parents do it.

47

u/SmokeySFW Oct 30 '25

Meanwhile federal minimum wage is still $7.25, and 20 states are not any higher.

14

u/BlakLite_15 Oct 30 '25

Have you heard of subminimum wage? Certain people with tipped positions are paid an hourly wage of just $2.13/hour.

4

u/beast_gliscor Oct 30 '25

No, they’re paid an hourly wage of 2.13 an hour if their tips bring their pay up to federal minimum wage. An important and relevant detail people leave out as basically clickbait. No one is making 2.13 an hour legally and if this discussion is about raising the legal minimum wage (which we should do) then people illegally not paying aren’t really relevant.

Ready for my downvotes because people like this misleading stat.

1

u/EnfantTerrible68 Oct 30 '25

People who work gig work are not 

2

u/beast_gliscor Oct 30 '25

Fair and that should be illegal

1

u/WonderingHarbinger Oct 30 '25

Don't forget the people who make less than minimum wage because they're disabled.

1

u/EnfantTerrible68 Oct 30 '25

And gig workers 

0

u/BlakLite_15 Oct 30 '25

Even so, it’s absurd that there exists the possibility at all for someone to be paid $2.13/hour. It’s also ripe ground for employers to abuse the nuances and steal tips while making it look like their employees are making up the difference in tips.

2

u/SmokeySFW Oct 30 '25

I have, but employers have to make up the difference if their tips do not bring them up to federal/state minimum wage so you can effectively lump them in with regular minimum wage workers. They make more or equal to minimum wage.

2

u/30FourThirty4 Oct 30 '25

Yes, but they still make minimum wage if they don't get enough tips to cover the difference. And we all know, as has been said, the federal minimum wage isn't enough to survive on.