I wonder how her boyfriend feels about supporting her ( the subject in the WSJ).
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If she’s making $60-80,000 she doesn’t need anyone to support her (I haven’t read the article so don’t know about her specifically but that’s the range that was mentioned upthread). That’s median household income in the US.
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They obviously haven’t come to CC and read all the posts regarding insufficient funds to pay for their children’s education, insufficients funds for down payment of a house, pre and post retirement financial worries. But then again, the posts supporting quitting the rat race early and endangering a comfortable retirement and those supporting these so called “lazy work-life balance” lifestyles have garnered many likes.
She isn’t. As the quoted piece above notes, she was previously making $26 per hour for 10 hour shifts “helping clean up low-level radioactive dirt”. That’s only $52K per year for 2000 hours, or $65K for 2500 hours. Now “she earns less than she used to”.
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Are they actually interested in having kids? That seems incompatible with a “me-centered” lifestyle.
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The article said she is supported by living with her boyfriend
Actually it says living with her boyfriend helps defray the costs of living. That’s true of all couples - it doesn’t mean he’s supporting her. They share expenses (rent, utilities) which is cheaper than living alone. I’m not trying to defend a 23-year old “influencer” who works 3 hours a day and uses her extra time to play with her cats, but I also don’t think that leaning out for a few years at 23 or 25 or even 28 is going to doom anyone to a perpetual life of poverty and no kids (assuming they don’t incur major debt and possibly even then) nor does it particularly bother me. As long as my kid doesn’t expect me to support her post-college (which she doesn’t) she can make as little money as she wants.
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It is fine with me-just make sure one goes into with eyes open about the difficulty of hopping back on the career track. The video and article will not help.
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Well, my S quit his job as EE with fed govt and is working for himself. He’s totally self-supporting and saves a lot. He’s been working for himself for over a decade before he quit, including 2 years full time, just to make sure he could do it.
He’s happy, he is is paying all his bills and has saved a lot for his emergency fund, business and retirement. H has a lot of flexibility and his fiancée is fine it’s him working for himself while she has a more traditional employer.
We don’t feel we have any vote, so long as he is happy and paying all his bills and keeps up his savings. We are happy that he’s found a work/life balance that works well for him and fiancée.
He did get his PE certificate before he quit his EE job, in case he decides he wants to go back to wngibwering.
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Lots of people work for themselves or start their own businesses.
I think that is very different than the article.
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I know one influencer personally. She was on the same spot team as my DD. She was making over 400k yearly at 23. Still is an influencer five years later. I don’t think she should worry too much about her career path and can retire before 30 after few more years like that
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I also wonder how much it is correlated with expectations about whether a couple will both work full time. Amongst my S’s peers, the girl who comes closest to this stereotype is from an UMC family and her mother got married fairly young (arranged marriage) and never worked (father is successful professional and subsidizes the daughter’s lifestyle). Her parents seemingly expect her to find a husband now she’s out of college, rather than pushing her to have a successful career (they certainly don’t expect her to support them in old age). But she’s not putting much effort into that either…
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This. Few of these influencers are either financially successful or independent. Maybe they don’t care.
Sorry, what is UMC? United Methodist Church?
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Upper Middle Class
Well S’s work has nothing to do with engineering, but he does have those skills n case he tires of working for himself or it becomes unprofitable to continue.
I recognize he’s not making a living as an influencer and I don’t believe that’s the opposite of his preferences — he prefers being invisible on social media.
KEY!
Each person has to figure this out for themself. For me I put HappyLife a few rungs above MeaningfulCareer.
I helped my brother see a life outside W2 and he’s been W2-free for several years. I’m helping my kids (and niece) shape a life that isn’t W2-centric. I guess I’m dreaming of it for them, and trying to guide them into realizing the possibility. I haven’t had a W2 for 25+ years. I almost stumbled into this, mostly by accident+necessity, but also because it fit my personality and lifestyle vision.
I’m sort of the poster boy for Lazy-Man Jobs. I’d rather set up two or three money-earning/entrepreneurial/gig opps, and be able to quickly drop one if I don’t like it … rather than feel forced to keep doing something I don’t like because it’s my one and only source of income. I’m all in on this article’s philosophy because I’d rather earn a little less but work a lot less. And I get that’s a totally personal decision.
I did the W2-salaried-10hour-days-fully-invested-in-job thing for a while. It was cool. For me, having more time to do what I want (or to do nothing) has been more important the past 30 years.
This is also key.
Not everyone can pull it off. It’s a balancing act of many things … and a certain amount of skill/knowledge/awareness in different things.
I talk to some people who want to do this (younger and older) and most can’t/won’t/shouldn’t make it work. All want to “work less” but that’s not the only component to this thing.
I’m a single parent of three (and a dog) - I understand responsibility and others being dependent upon me. And yet, there are still ways to make this work.
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For me, this is the piece that shatters the dream for most. 
Most people want to work less … but no one wants to accept a shift in lifestyle or … income uncertainty for lack of a better term.
I think more money comes in time, after settling into the new life and being able to take advantage of opportunities/niches that you become aware of later. But initially (in my experience and seeing others) there will be less income. At the least there will/may be not as much income security. And for some people, that’s a deal breaker. For others, it is an inconvenience to be endured until overcome.
For instance, my niece (recent college graduate) is aspiring into this lifestyle. She doesn’t have one of these magical $60/yr jobs that ask only 3-hours a day. One of her things is sweets - she love making cupcakes/candies/etc. This past weekend she posted up at a big reunion type cookout/gathering of about 200 people. She set up a table and sold sweets. Made almost $1000 for half a day’s “work” where she socialized most of the time and drank small flutes of wine. Of course she spent hours at home creating her sweets … but that’s the whole point for her. She was at home, working on her own schedule, taking breaks as she saw fit. The sweets are not her only $ thing. I think by another year or so, she’ll be juggling three or four pursuits, “working” a total of 10-20 hours a week, and netting more than enough … and maybe even a little more.
But you shouldn’t feel “less-than”. I just bought a “new” car. It’s older than two of my children. My main vehicle is almost old enough to buy liquor. I never mind driving my old vehicles, but when I rent a car or ride with one of my friends, it feels like luxury. We all have our less-thans. We all have our own path. There is no right or wrong life, there is simply what works for each of us. I think I heard that on Kung-Fu in the 70s.
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I think people are getting tripped up on the “Lazy-girl” label. The reality for a lot of jobs which remained remote or hybrid post-pandemic, is that workers learned they can get an 8-hour-a-day job done in 3-4 hours, when alone at home. It’s being done not only with $50-$60k jobs, but higher paying jobs as well. Many enjoyed the remote job lifestyle shift and endeavored to continue doing it even after the world opened up. Some companies have embraced it and others noticed a drop in overall productivity and made the decision to bring workers back into the office.
If we take away the derogatory label, the decision to take a less stressful, lower paying job is a very personal one and arguably shouldn’t be made without first considering the potential financial consequences that others mentioned (the ability to support oneself, purchase a home, have children, invest in a retirement, etc.) Nonetheless, if someone in their 20’s decides to take a few-year pause from a high stress, high pay job, they can aways go back if they find that the “lazy” job no longer makes sense for them.
Many (most?) people make multiple life and career decisions throughout their roughly 60 years of adulthood without the need to give it a label and a hashtag.
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https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/25/opinions/tiktok-lazy-girl-jobs-women-workforce-filipovic/index.html
What’s interesting is that it is women themselves creating these hashtags I believe.
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