Everyone's situation is unique. For many, it may not be easy at all—you're right. But in the "average" case of the average software engineer in the US, if you value the option to take a year off, it is absolutely trivial to save half your income.
Let's just do some back-of-napkin math to prove my point. The average American software engineer makes $110,944 / year [1]. The median salary in the US is $54,132 / year [2]. That's less than half an average software engineer. In other words, most Americans—even if they spend every penny they earn—live on less than half of what an average software engineer makes.
So yes. On average, a software engineer should be able to save half their income and take off a year. Or hell, save 33% of their income, and take a year off after working two!
So I think the issue is that people with more money are taking on more responsibilities (more expensive house / car etc). This makes it harder for them to take sabbaticals.
The mistake is when those same people then claim that someone making the same money without the same responsibilities is privileged.
It is a very odd position to hold. I’m not privileged just because someone else decided to take on the maximum amount of debt that was available to them.
Let's just do some back-of-napkin math to prove my point. The average American software engineer makes $110,944 / year [1]. The median salary in the US is $54,132 / year [2]. That's less than half an average software engineer. In other words, most Americans—even if they spend every penny they earn—live on less than half of what an average software engineer makes.
So yes. On average, a software engineer should be able to save half their income and take off a year. Or hell, save 33% of their income, and take a year off after working two!
[1] https://www.indeed.com/career/software-engineer/salaries
[2] https://www.firstrepublic.com/insights-education/how-much-do...