With the salaries US tech workers are earning, healthcare, welfare and childcare benefits don't substantively impact their take-home for it to matter.
Anyone tech worker buying a home now needs a bigger down payment or will face a massive mortgage. Add in the inflation of food and hygiene products, a $100-$150k year salary has the buying power of $50k a couple decades ago.
The politicians know exactly which screws to turn to prevent the proles from getting too much leverage. It’s been part of the playbook for decades, we were just not honest decades ago:
https://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/27/business/job-insecurity-o...
It’s all sleight of hand. Buying power is being nerfed to spank the kids into compliance.
The UK (possibly influenced heavily by US culture) seems to reject it as something that doesn't apply to them.
Not that the end results are great. But it only sets the bottom and usually people negotiate up from there.