Interesting, you're the first one to ever point this out to me. "Pays X of what I make" doesn't seem to flow off my tongue as well in either English or Russian

Interesting, you're the first one to ever point this out to me. "Pays X of what I make" doesn't seem to flow off my tongue as well in either English or Russian (my native tongue). Also, in the context of my comment, seeing that a salary is 70% less rather than 30% of a salary, seems to better emphasize the vast difference.