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from the so-highly-skilled-we-need-second-jobs dept.
The Obama administration announced plans to permit the spouses of certain, "highly-skilled" H1B visa holders the right to work too. The backlog of green-card applications for H1B holders can be as much as 11 years. If the goal is to attract and keep more high-quality talent within the USA (rather than H1B off-shoring), it seems like streamlining the "green card" permanent residence process would be more effective. Making the H1B visa a mandatory path to a green card within a very short period, such as 2 years might be a much better way to encourage highly talented individuals to stay in the country compared to requiring more than a decade of uncertainty.
Some claim that this will actually have the perverse effect of enabling IT salaries to fall even further. The New York Times article notes there are representatives who question the wisdom of the proposal and that there is a 60-day comment window.
(Score: 1) by LoRdTAW on Wednesday May 07 2014, @08:55PM
Who is "we"?
You do realize the buying power of "median income" varies from place to place, right? The median income in the USA is 44k/yr*. In many places 44k is nearly hand to mouth. If you live in a major metropolitan area or suburb you better be making 80k/yr or more to afford a house. If you want to afford a house and support a family you better be earning around 100k/yr. If you rent you need 50k/yr just to live a decent life with a few, small luxuries (going out for a weekend, vacations, trips, gadgets, etc.).
In my neck of the woods (Queens, NYC) the comfort zone for a single person renting an apartment starts at 50k/yr (gross). It used to be you wanted your rent to be one weeks pay. Now its around 2 weeks pay at 50k (after taxes) for a cheaper apartment. The second two weeks go toward everything else including utilities, auto and food. You can start to save at that point but not much. If you want to be real comfortable you want to be earning 60k+/yr. Average rent is 1200 to 1600 for a small two bedroom depending on the area and apartment size. Apartments in fancy areas like Williamsburg and Park Slope fetch well over 2000/month, in some cases as high as 4000/month. Many people do the roommate thing, it cuts rent in half and allows one to save more. The high cost of living is why many people stay single or wait until their early/mid 30's to start families.
Sure there are places where 800/month will rent you a whole house. But those are small towns and suburbs in areas where you are less likely to find a decent paying job.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_ the_United_States [wikipedia.org]