During an episode of Caleb Hammer’s YouTube series, Financial Audit, Sam revealed that he earns significantly less than Penn because he’s hoping to kickstart a career as a professional voice actor.
So far, he’s only had a handful of gigs and earned a mere $252 in the last month for his voice work.
“You need to go make some big boy money,” Hammer told him. Unfortunately, a lack of enthusiasm for — or outright aversion to— a formal 9-to-5 job is increasingly becoming the norm for younger Americans.
Dropping out of the labor force
Men have been steadily dropping out of the labor force in recent decades. In the 1950s, the labor force participation rate for men was consistently above 80%, according to Federal Reserve data. In the early 2000s, the rate remained consistently above 70%. As of May 2024, however, the rate sat at 67.8%
Economist Nick Eberstadt estimated that there are roughly seven million “prime age” men between the ages of 25 and 54 who are intentionally avoiding the job market, even as employment is readily available and some sectors face a labor shortage.
To be fair, Sam isn’t unemployed. He works as a part-time substitute teacher because his voice acting gigs are simply not enough to put food on the table.
Unfortunately, he admitted that he doesn’t enjoy teaching and is reluctant to push for more hours. He estimated a monthly income of $1,200 from this flexible teaching gig, although Hammer’s audit of his finances revealed he only made $314 last month from teaching. Combined with the $252 he made from his voice work that same month, Sam made less than $600 in those 30 days.
Since this income isn’t enough for housing, Sam lives with his parents. To be fair, this isn’t exactly unusual given that roughly one in three Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 are currently living with their parents, according to data published by the Pew Research Center.
Sam’s recent engagement also makes it likely that he will move out — eventually. However, Hammer believes the couple aren’t financially prepared for such a big commitment.
Unprepared for marriage
Sam’s fiancée, Penn, works from home earning $15 an hour as an AI chatbot moderator. Her annual income comes in at roughly $23,400. She also lives with her parents.
