Silicon Valley women replied to the Business Week article about the shortage of dateable women, saying that it can be hard to find a good man if you're not willing to advertise in the newspaper, hang out in bars and nightclubs, or sign up for dating services -- especially for 30+ and 40+ women who aren't shaped like movie stars. The perfect woman-next-door may be living next door or working in the next department, but chances to meet are few. Religious groups are trying to provide channels: Congregation Kol Emeth (Palo Alto) recently hosted a Shabbat dinner for about 75 single women and 25 single men. See for their traditional matchmaking (Shadchan) service for Silicon Valley Jews. [BW, 27Mar00, p. 15.]

The median home in Silicon Valley now costs $421K, up 65% in five years. Only 29% of Valley families can afford that. Blue collar workers earning $15/hour or less are often sharing housing, several to a room. Income for the bottom fifth of households actually fell during the 1990s, due partly to the use of outsourcing, subcontracting, and temp agencies. (That gives high-tech companies maximum flexibility. Companies focus on their core competencies, outsourcing everything else.) Part-timers, temps, contract workers, and the self-employed are now 42% of the workforce (vs. 33% for the US). Retail workers make about $23K/year. Those earning something like $8/hour often end up in homeless shelters -- if they can get past the waiting lists. San Jose's soup kitchen servings are up 27% from 1998. Some 20K people had a period of homelessness last year. Such statistics are hidden by Valley averages, which show family income up 50% (not adjusted for inflation) since 1990, to $83K/year (vs. 36% for the whole US, to $47,800). Santa Clara County has at least 13 billionaires (worth $45B total), several hundred families with $25M, and 17K with liquid assets above $1M (not including their houses). Incomes for the top fifth have risen 29% since 1992, and software workers now average $96K/year. [Aaron Bernstein, BW, 27Mar00, p. 76.]

The median house price in California is now $232K, which only 32% of CA families can afford (down from 43% a year ago). In the Bay Area, only 21% can afford a $421K median home (down from 33%) -- and it's still dropping. (In 1989-90, affordability dropped to 15%.) Average salaries may be high in Santa Clara County, but only 20% can afford a $489K median home (also down from 33%). San Francisco's affordability ratio is only 13%, followed by 15% in San Mateo, Marin, and Monterey. These figures assume 20% down and a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage at 8.06%. To afford that, families in Santa Barbara or Alameda need to make $92K; Monterey, $112K; Contra Costa, $113K; Santa Cruz, $117K; San Francisco, $130K; Santa Clara, $135K; San Mateo, $152K; and Marin, $182K. For the Bay Area as a whole, it is $115K. However, those who do own homes are enjoying double-digit appreciation. [Sue McAllister, SJM, 08Apr00, 1C.]

New figures for Santa Clara county show that only 16% of households can now afford a median home of $540K. Only 12% of San Franciscans can afford a home in the city, vs. 28% for the full Bay Area. [SJM, 05May00.]

National Alliance for Fair Employment is a new advocacy group for adjunct professors, secretaries, and other contingency workers. It's a coalition of labor unions, activists, and advocates for minority rights. The group wants to help temp workers win health insurance, retirement benefits, equal rights, and upward mobility. [Kirstin Downey Grimsley, Washington Post. SJM, 24May00, 14C.]

----- "If work was a good thing the rich would have it all and not let you do it." -- Elmore Leonard. -----