In China\u2019s new era of mass youth unemployment, young adults who are struggling come in a multitude of types.<\/p>\n
Take the \u201c996\u201d employees\u2014they work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week\u2014are \u201clying flat.\u201d These are two of the roughly dozen of worker burnout-related expressions that have emerged in China in recent years. Lying flat can mean coming to work but doing little to no work, or simply quitting altogether.<\/p>\n
\n
Those caught in the employment crisis, for instance, are the barely employed tech worker so burned out that he does little more than show up at the office and nap at the keyboard. The employee may not be worried, but his chances of being let go are significant. Companies have so much leverage in this worker-surplus economy that firms can fire and rehire with ease; there are millions waiting to take the same tiring position.<\/p>\n
\u201cThink about it,\u201d said Guo Qingfeng, an IT worker at a large tech firm in Beijing\u2019s \u201cSilicon Valley,\u201d known as Zhongguancun. \u201cIf I\u2019m fired, I don\u2019t really lose that much money,\u201d he said, declining to disclose his salary but saying it wasn\u2019t much. \u201cBut I would get freedom and this daily stress off my back.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s not alone. Barron\u2019s<\/em> spoke with five other workers with strikingly similar sentiments working in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu. There\u2019s a record-shattering number of jobless young people. More than 20% of Chinese aged 16 to 24 can\u2019t find work, according to official statistics released for June. Some Chinese scholars say the number could be substantially higher.<\/p>\nThe number is so high that after June officials simply stopped releasing the figure altogether. It is estimated that the August number is at least as high, and it comes alongside another record high statistic\u201411.6 million Chinese graduated this summer and began their job hunts. <\/p>\n
Youth unemployment spiked worldwide during the pandemic, but it normalized relatively quickly in places like the U.S., where it was 8.7% in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.<\/p>\n
In China, there\u2019s also what might be called the debt-embracer. This is the young spender who wants an independent lifestyle, living alone or with friends, but either doesn\u2019t want to work or simply can\u2019t find an open position.<\/p>\n
Dozens of social media apps in China\u2014most notably Alipay,
\n Tencent Holdings,<\/span>
\n (ticker: 700.Hong Kong), and
\n Meituan
\n (3690.Hong Kong)\u2014now offer lending to essentially anyone, in exchange for exorbitant\u2014sometimes daily\u2014interest fees. None of the companies responded to Barron\u2019s <\/em>request for comment.<\/p>\nIn Shanghai, 27-year-old Angel Wu told Barron\u2019s <\/em>she has borrowed 70,000 yuan ($9,700) in just over a month from multiple apps since completing her masters in the U.K. and having no luck with her\u2014admittedly lackluster\u2014job searching.<\/p>\nAnd a new genre of jobless youth has emerged\u2014the \u201cfull-time child.\u201d This group took China\u2019s social media by storm over the summer, showing videos of their lives living with their parents with often scant indication of any pursuit of traditional employment.<\/p>\n
Many on social media and several with whom Barron\u2019s<\/em> spoke said they do things around the house in exchange for living at home without an income.<\/p>\n\u201cI walk the dog, wash our clothes, clean and mop, and grocery shop if I\u2019m out,\u201d Li Xiaoyi said from a suburb of the western city of Chengdu.<\/p>\n
While many parents in the West\u2014and certainly many still in China\u2014would find this resignation to essentially being the family housemaid intolerable, a surprising number of young adults said their parents are happy about the situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents had me when they were relatively old, so they want to see me as much as possible these days. They encourage me to stay home,\u201d Li said.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s unclear what immediate economic implications this trend is having on China\u2019s already weak economy. Youth are important drivers of consumption in China, and tend to spend more on culture and education, according to a note by
\n Goldman Sachs.<\/span>\n <\/p>\nSome \u201cfull-time children\u201d receive small stipends for their chores, which would seem to shift spending away from areas like renting and more toward consumables.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no rent expenses, so I can go see movies and stuff if I want,\u201d Li said, declining to say how much money she receives from her parents.<\/p>\n
This group isn\u2019t to be confused with those out of work under other conditions. For instance, vast numbers of Chinese children from wealthy families receive essentially blank financial checks from their parents, a car, and often their own apartment bought with family money.<\/p>\n
The property portion of this cohort is strategic in multiple respects. It puts their child out of the house and makes them a better candidate for finding a partner and having a social life. But most importantly, it plants a huge amount of cash in China\u2019s favorite form of investment\u2014property. Some 70% of the country\u2019s wealth is tied up in property, and roughly 90% of Chinese own a residence, according to government statistics. But there are tight rules around buying a second home, so an easy route for parents to do so is to put it under their child\u2019s name.<\/p>\n
Last month, officials made it even easier for such dependents to register a home purchase under their name. These \u201cfirst-time\u201d home buyers can now enjoy cheaper mortgage rates, alongside tax incentives. The hope is that the relaxed rules will help breathe life back into China\u2019s moribund property sector, which accounts for nearly 30% of the country\u2019s gross domestic output, according to multiple independent estimates.<\/p>\n
Write to editors@barrons.com<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In China\u2019s new era of mass youth unemployment, young adults who are struggling come in a multitude of types. Take the \u201c996\u201d employees\u2014they work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week\u2014are \u201clying flat.\u201d These are two of the roughly dozen of worker burnout-related expressions that have emerged in China in recent years. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":64442,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[241],"tags":[83],"class_list":["post-64441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-markets","tag-featured","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"yoast_head":"\n
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