Jessica Rosales, 29, is a pay transparency practitioner. For many people, talking about their salary is “taboo, almost a secret,” she says. But not for her or her TikTok followers.
A housekeeper at a Michigan hospital, Mme Rosales posts videos about her life, including her personal finances. At the end of each month, she logs onto TikTok and tracks where each dollar of her paycheck went: credit cards, groceries, mortgage, electricity, etc. She does this on camera, on a pretty budget spreadsheet of her own.
Mme Rosales is part of a recent trend of workers – many young women, in fact – breaking the taboo of salary.
Their “payday” videos are accessible and detailed, breaking down their weekly budget down to the dollar.
Older generations treated money as a personal matter, but some young people are posting everything about their job online, from their subway ride to the video call they’ve been laid off. So for young people, talking openly about money feels natural and necessary, says Kristy Nguyen, 23.
“There’s a huge openness to social media in our generation,” says Kristy Nguyen, who talks about personal finance on TikTok.
By being honest and showing our vulnerabilities, we can make a difference in other people’s lives.
Kristy Nguyen
The shift is part of a broader trend, as pay transparency laws in several states now require companies to list expected salary ranges in their job postings.
In any case, more and more job postings include salary ranges, according to job sites ZipRecruiter, Indeed and LinkedIn; many companies are being transparent about salaries even though they aren’t required to. Employee rights activists say disclosing salaries allows workers to better negotiate compensation. (That said, some employers get around the rules by posting jobs with unduly broad salary ranges.)
According to Andrea Johnson of the National Women’s Law Center, all of these factors are coming together to form a “pay transparency revolution” and we’re nearing a tipping point. “Gen Z is saying, ‘We’re not even going to apply if the salary isn’t in the job posting.’ We’re moving toward that, and employers are taking notice.”
A more level playing field
Mme Nguyen works at a discount supermarket and is also a security guard. She says young people seek financial advice on TikTok, among other things, because of a lack of financial literacy. Her videos have titles like I’m 23, worth $150,000, this is exactly what I have And I budgeted $11,282 for April from my three jobs.
She gets a ton of comments thanking her for her honesty – and asking all sorts of questions.
Getting pay transparency is less easy than providing it, M foundme Nguyen. When she asked her superior how much she earned – to find out what she could expect as she climbed the ladder – the refusal was blunt: “It doesn’t matter what I earn!”: Mme Nguyen was a little shaken, but not entirely surprised.
According to Ellen Ernst Kossek, a management professor at Purdue University, the prudishness about pay is a legacy of old management practices that favored employers over employees. It’s one factor, among others, that has led to pay inequality for female employees, especially mothers, notes Mme Kossek by the way.
We find Quebec women who do the same thing.
Mme Kossek points out that today’s youth have received less financial education than previous generations; they are poorly prepared to manage their money well.
“Many parents don’t have time to educate their children about this,” said Mr.me Kossek, who is a fellow at the Academy of Management. “I think this self-taught generation is filling that gap.”
Talking about money pays off
Fresh out of college, Ana Thompson was hired as a clinical research coordinator at a gastroenterology clinic. She didn’t negotiate her salary. “I regret it to this day,” she says. While talking to a colleague, she learned she was being paid $10,000 less than someone else in the same position. Her frustration made her a proponent of pay transparency.
Mme Thompson, 25, who now works in marketing at General Mills, channels that passion on TikTok, where she talks budgeting, saving, and investing. She realizes she’s not alone in being intimidated by the idea of negotiating a higher salary or making long-term financial plans. She’s dedicated to addressing these topics candidly, drawing on her own experiences.
At 25, I have a six-figure net worth: I achieved this by investing early and living below my means.
Ana Thompson, who talks budgeting, saving and investing on TikTok
Nearly all of TikTok’s content about pay transparency comes from people making between $70,000 and $130,000, M estimates.me Thompson. She would like to hear from employees with more varied incomes: “The more we talk about money – not just at work but with family and friends too – the more natural and easy it becomes,” said Thompson.me Thompson.
Start from scratch
Tiffany Morrison, who was left in an unhappy marriage, found herself raising two children alone with little financial skills: “I really struggled,” she says. But then she stumbled upon thebudgetmom, a financial advice TikTok from a working mom like her who was rebuilding her life after being drowning in debt. Mme Morrison saw this approach as a way out.
Mme Morrison, 37, documents his financial journey online. Goal no 1: Save $5,000. She’s seen scouring prices at Walmart, breaking down to the dollar what she makes with each paycheck (she’s a real estate technician), and setting her monthly budget.
When he first started on TikTok, Mme Morrison didn’t see many other people in her income bracket talking openly about money. What she saw motivated her, but she missed connecting and sharing with people in her situation.
Since then, she has found some through her videos. She has connected with women who have reached out to her and thanked her for her openness about her reality as a single mother on a tight budget. They can talk about money freely, understand each other and help each other, she says.
“Before, I didn’t know anyone for whom this subject wasn’t taboo,” says M.me Morrison. “But now I feel like we’re living in a different time.”
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