China’s defeated youth
stopped publishing them altogether. Higher education is no longer a reliable ladder to a solid career. Our calculations show that in 2021 over 70% of those unemployed youngsters were graduates.
Along with scarce jobs, they face sky-high property prices. Their modest dreams of finding work, buying a house and supporting a family seem increasingly out of reach. To get a sense of how young people feel, we have interviewed dozens of them.
Their message is strikingly consistent. “We have no hope," says a 27-year-old in Huizhou. The malaise felt by him and his cohort has led to the emergence of a new nihilistic vocabulary, featuring phrases such as tang ping (lying flat) and bailan (letting it rot).
Using sentiment-analysis tools to extract feelings from text on social media, we found that the mood of young Chinese is growing ever darker. That should trouble officials in Beijing. Some 360m Chinese (a quarter of the population) are between the ages of 16 and 35.
Their gloom has profound implications for the future of China, its economy and the party’s ambitions. But rather than soothe the young, the government tends to scold them. Last year Mr Xi said they must “abandon arrogance and pampering".
Editorials in state media encourage them to “embrace struggle" and sacrifice their youth to the cause of national rejuvenation, as defined by the party. Repression is increasing. “Eat bitterness," Mr Xi tells youngsters.
His admonition, though a worn Chinese cliché, is sure to strike a nerve among people such as the barista in Huizhou. It is not as if young Chinese do not work hard. From an early age they face enormous pressure to do well in school and ace China’s notoriously tough university-entrance exam, known as the gaokao.
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