This is an obvious driver for migration: why settle for living in a poor country, if you can migrate to a country with orders of magnitude richer opportunities? I really wonder why the global migration rate is only 3%.
[0] Tangentially, it is an interesting question how long the ethnic European neighborhoods, nostalgically portrayed in movies like "The Godfather", that began to dissolve around WWII could have lasted. According to one view of what is commonly called "white flight", a major factor was the WASP ruling class' social engineering and ethnic cleansing of them out of existence by dispersing them across the suburbs which hastened their assimilation ("into what?" is itself a question worth pursuing; a WASP-constructed "identity"?). The reason this migration out of the cities coincided with the civil rights movement, according to this view, is that the Great Migration of black sharecroppers from the South was effectively an instrument of mass migration into ethnic neighborhoods. Mass migration always fragments the peoples into which the migration flows. So, given this interpretation, this was not some manifestation of racism, but of disintegrating neighborhoods (the "white guys" throwing rocks in Marquette Park were apparently Lithuanians who felt that their community was threatened by this migration). Many of these neighborhoods were also Catholic, and with falling birth rates among Protestants following the 1930 Lambeth Conference, the idea of Catholics outbreeding them was not something they cared to endure.
Its a huge step, too big for way too many people, but definitely worth it for many others. It looks much worse from far than actually doing the steps though, you break them down into atomic parts just like any other problem solving.
I've done it twice and when looking back to those 10/15 years, it was the right choice, probably the best in my life. But its best done before starting family.
They can still be materially a lot richer and often enjoy many other lifestyle benefits from moving overseas even if they have to drop down the status ladder and forget about owning land and having servants, but it does make the decision a bit more of a tradeoff than a salary comparison might suggest. The option of moving isn't really there for the people who are so poor there's no upside to staying in their own country.
That's a lot of people. There's so many variables when it comes to migration that an individual has to face, a percentage that high is actually quite significant. Rising quality of life also means immigration pressure isn't as high.
I dunno about that, as a professional developer in the UK it's way easier to immigrate to Canada or Australia than the US.
So you end up with "senior engineers" in Canada/Australia driving taxis and not ever being able to land a job as engineers, even though they got enough points to immigrate by being one, at least on paper.
In the US, someone has to be able to get a job above market rates (so convince an employer and the government that his skills are required) before even being considered for immigration. So I wouldn't say it's harder, at least for someone really qualified.
Well, they both give major points if you've got a job offer so I wouldn't say that. But right now (COVID aside) I could apply to Australia, get my visa and be living in Melbourne inside 6 months, then citizenship in about 4 years. For the US, I'd have to:
- Get a job with a US company here
- Work there for a year and hope they're willing to transfer me on an L1 visa
- Hope the US Immigration RNG comes up with my name
- After working for a while, transfer onto an employment-based visa while hoping I get sponsored for that too.
Am I talking about illegal immigrants or Uber?
While in theory one can move to Canada legally, it appears to me that becoming a permanent resident would be difficult or impossible for most people in the world.
There is a complicated points system that possibly a lot of HN readers could qualify for, but not most people.
They do not want you if you aren't a member of the managerial class, professional, or skilled tradesperson.
They also do not want you if you aren't between 18 and 35. It's not completely impossible but if you are closer to 50, there is a substantial penalty to your score.
They do not want you if you have any health or mental condition that they determine will put a burden on the public system.
They do not want you if you aren't fluent in English or French.
They do not want you if you aren't highly educated.
They do not want you if you don't have a guarantee of employment in Canada for a sufficient amount of time or a lot of money. Having a job in Canada isn't necessarily enough.
They do not want you if you have a criminal record, especially any form of DWI, whether alcohol, pot, or something else.
Marrying a Canadian is not an automatic pass.
There are also a bunch of specialized programs with different criteria, such as for refugees, people working as caregivers, etc.