Can China’s economy steadily recover after the pandemic – in a new report, the UN predicts for the Asian “giant” growth of 5.3% this year (UN-“World Economic Situation and Prospects as of mid-2023“). But for Chinese Millennials – who range in age from 25 to 40 and make up a critical group of consumers – frugality seems to be the new…virtue.
On Chinese social media, they give each other tips on how to save money and make ends meet. Popular domestic influencers now recommend a minimalist lifestyle. They show in videos how to make a dinner for less than 10 yuan (about 1.3 euros) and how to get by in increasingly expensive Chinese metropolises with meager minimum wages.
All this while youth unemployment has soared to 19.5%, almost 3% higher than last December and a historical record for China. This is an “army” of about 30 million unemployed people aged 16 to 24. The increase comes despite the end of Beijing’s “zero cases” policy on the COVID-19 pandemic.
The anxiety and despair is now being reflected on social media, where many young people are describing themselves as “Kong Yiji”: a character from classical Chinese literature, highly educated and with a strong distaste for manual labor amid economic crisis.
The online protests have been criticized by China’s state media, with reports of lazy youths who will more or less have to get off their ‘rods’ and fall headlong into work, even in agriculture.
The view sparked a new wave of online backlash, with young people lashing out at government officials for abdicating their responsibilities in an inappropriate shift of blame for the state of the Chinese economy. Comments of this type were quickly censored. As the problem of youth unemployment remains.
Degrees… “rag papers”
The general belief until now in China was that a good education would lead to a well-paid job.
But the post-COVID reality has changed, at least for now, the facts. Jobs for graduates have declined.
Many giants, mainly in the sectors of technology and real estate – under government repression and crisis respectively – not only stopped the preventions, but also proceeded with layoffs. Alibaba alone laid off at least 19,000 workers last year…
University graduates meanwhile are lining up to find a job. According to the Chinese Ministry of Education, there were over 10 million last year. Another 11.6 million are expected this year. In the interim, youth unemployment benefits do not exist.
The prospect of social advancement, which was a motivation for previous generations with hard work and many sacrifices, now seems like a phantasm.
Even those who work are struggling to make ends meet. For most, the paycheck is gone by the end of the month. With real estate prices in China’s cities skyrocketing, the children’s room in the family room remains the place of residence.
Plans for marriage and the creation of a family – a direction towards which Beijing exerts pressure to combat demographic aging and decline – are fatally put on hold.
Research shows that 40% of those bachelors who have made their revolution, with financial independence from their parents and live alone today in big cities – such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou or Shenzhen – are barely making ends meet.
Looking for temporary solutions
According to UN-HABITAT, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, housing is considered affordable when the ratio of cost to income is one to three or less.
In the case of Chinese Millennials (and not only, of course) this is an elusive dream. At least not in the big cities.
Not coincidentally, for a few months now, a once-abandoned mining town in the far north of China has become for many a quasi… “Mecca” of adulthood, as the cheapest city in China.
This is the northeastern city of Hegang, near the border with the Russian Far East. It offers houses for sale with less than 10,000 euros and heating costs paid by the state.
But even there the cheapest life comes at a high price. In winter the temperature drops many degrees below zero and the nearest hospital is several hours away.
Obviously, for many it is a necessary, rather than an ideal solution. More and more young people – unemployed and not – disappointed by the lack of professional prospects after their studies, remain languishing in the security of their fatherland.
Now, a new trend has begun to take shape in their ranks. They call it “small but sure happiness”. It is defined through small things that one can do or acquire in their daily life, as… consumer psychotherapy.
It can be from a coffee, to a trip. It certainly does not support domestic consumption growth to the levels the Chinese government is seeking.
Nor can it be a solution, as a small sense of happiness to compensate for the loss of long-term goals in life.
