China’s slower-than-usual economic growth has put pressure on the country’s millennials and Generation Z. Reared by a generation of Chinese who made their wealth during nearly four uninterrupted decades of explosive economic growth, they face much lower expectations for economic dynamism and their own prospects going forward.
“China’s golden years, the two decades or so after our country’s reform and opening-up policies, are over. There’s nothing I can do about this. I can only accept it,” says 20-year-old Jeffrey An, who is starting a master’s degree…
“I think for the younger generation, the wage growth has really significantly slowed down,” she says. The average expected salary for young workers graduating from college in 2023 dropped to 8,033 yuan (about $1,160), about $15 lower than the year before…
However, nearly 11.6 million university graduates joined the job market last year, and many are still looking for employment. “I don’t think the Chinese economy will be able to absorb the new graduates [from 2023],” says Houze Song, a fellow at the Chicago-based think tank the Paulson Institute. “Because of ongoing property crisis and the local government debt drag to growth … I believe that Chinese growth rate [in 2024] is more likely to be even lower than [in 2023], which means that the youth unemployment rate is more likely to continue to accumulate.”
On top of all these pressures, a regulatory blitz last year targeted China’s consumer tech companies and education firms…
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