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Posted: 2023-08-27 20:32:14

Earlier this year Zhang Jiayi decided to close her business and become a "full-time daughter".

The 31-year-old from Hangzhou, China, started a clothing company in early 2020, but with her turnover falling, business was "getting harder every year".

"The amount of time and effort I was putting in was disproportionate to [the profitability], and it felt like there was no hope in sight," she said.

Ms Zhang now spends her days in her new role looking after her parents' wants and needs.

In return, they pay her a monthly "salary" of 8,000 yuan ($1,600)

Zhang Jiayi poses for a photograph in the street with her parents.

Zhang Jiayi helps her parents with exercise, organises their holidays and provides tech support. (Supplied: Zhang Jiayi)

"Things are quite routine," Ms Zhang said.

"I go for morning exercise with my parents after getting up. I do Tai Chi with my mum as she has been learning it.

"My parents love travelling, so I make plans for them.

"When they have troubles with digital devices, I would also help them."

Ms Zhang is not the only young Chinese adult rejecting traditional notions of employment to make looking after their parents their full-time job. 

On China's social media platforms, more and more young people who have made the same decision have been sharing their experiences.

Unlike what are known as "NEETs" (Not in Education, Employment, or Training), these "full-time children" don't think of themselves as unemployed, rather their employers are their parents.

On Douban, a Chinese forum similar to Reddit, a discussion group called "Full-time Children's Work Exchange Centre" has more than 4,000 members.

Some users on the site post about being excited about not having to go to work, while others express their frustration and anxiety about not being able to find a job.

"I wish things would work themselves out, but I really don't see a way out or hope," said one user.

"It's normal to not be able to find a job now that the economy is not doing well. It's not our own issue, but the issue of the entire society," another user replied.

'Full-time son'

a young man sitting in a canoe

Widty Shang quit his job earlier this year to look after his parents and grandmother. (Supplied: Widty Shang)

Widty Shang attended one of China's most prestigious universities and received an offer to work at the Chinese branch of an international company before he graduated last year.

However, despite being a high achiever, he chose to become a "full-time son" earlier this year.

Like Ms Zhang, Mr Shang is an only child, having been born in 2000 during China's one-child policy.

He said he felt a strong sense of family responsibility and a big part of his decision was a desire to spend time with his sick grandmother, who lives with his parents.

Meanwhile, in a "not-very-good" economy, he said the workload had become increasingly intolerable.

Mr Shang used to work from 9am to 9pm or even 10pm, five days a week, which he considered to be "okay-ish" in comparison to his colleagues.

A man sleeping in bed in office

Many young Chinese have become accustomed to working long hours, with some companies providing beds so workers don't have to go home at night. (Reuters: Jason Lee)

"The offices in big companies are divided into cubicles where you see a lot of people doing monotonous work," Mr Shang said.

"I felt like I would never have my day there.

"After my energy wears out, I'll probably be replaced by someone younger.

"Work is just a means to live, not the purpose of life."

Mr Shang said his parents were delighted that he quit his job and fully supported his decision.

"They don't expect me to make money to support my family or to be successful," Mr Shang said.

"They just want their son to be healthy and happy."

Uncertain future for young people

Xu Chenggang, a senior research scholar at the Stanford Centre on China's Economy and Institutions and a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institute, has been doing research on China's economy for decades. 

He said employees' working conditions wouldn't improve unless the economy gets better.

"Because businesses also need to survive… they have to cut costs while ensuring performance."

People walking in Shanghai's CBD

Xu Chenggang expects China's youth unemployment to remain a problem in the long term. (Reuters: Aly Song)

Since the government ended its COVID-Zero policy in December, China's economy has not rebounded as expected, affecting the job market.

According to Dr Xu, young people who were able to be full-time children were "lucky".

"Those who are poorer have no possibility of surviving unless they work like hell," he said.

A man wearing glasses is smiling to the camera

Xu Chenggang says the young people who are able to become "full-time parents" are lucky. (Supplied: Xu Chenggang)

A report from one of China's most well-known think tanks, the National School of Development of Peking University, suggested about 16 million Chinese unemployed young people were "full-time children".

In a report that was later removed from the school's WeChat page, the think tank projected that China's youth unemployment rate would continue to rise in July and August.

The most recent data from China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that youth unemployment reached a record high of 21.3 per cent in June.

Earlier this month, the NBS announced it would stop publishing data on the youth unemployment rate to "further improve and optimise" the collection of data and statistics.

Dr Xu said the move was aimed at "covering up" the real circumstances.

"It will be a long-term phenomenon that a large number of young people will be unable to find work. 

"Many young people would face basic survival problems.

"How to maintain social stability is actually a big challenge."

Changing attitudes towards work

Three young people are walking out from a building

Young people in China are now less likely to believe hard work will help them change their lives and move up the social ladder.(Reuters: Thomas Peter)

At the end of the 1970s, China adopted a "Reform and Opening Up" policy and the economy started growing rapidly.

Since then, Chinese young people have generally been enthusiastic about working or doing business, believing that it would help them change their lives and move up the social ladder.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), China's annual real GDP averaged 9.5 per cent from 1979 to 2018.

But in recent years, young people's perception of work has changed.

A woman standing besides a lake, smiling happily to the camera

Zhou Yun says China's only children are better supported by their parents but also burdened with the responsibility of caring for them.(Supplied: Zhou Yun)

Zhou Yun, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Michigan, said the decision by many younger adults to become "full-time children" was indicative of China's changing economy and society.    

"We do see changes in beliefs and values in terms of how individuals view work for themselves," Dr Zhou said.

"The past few years have sparked a strong sense of uncertainty in many people's lives, driven by the pandemic and the slowdown of China's economic development.

"This has led some young people to reflect on how they imagine the future and their own place in that collective future."

Meanwhile, the "one-child" policy meant being "full-time children" was feasible for many young people who did not have to share their parents' resources with siblings, according to Dr Zhou.

However, this advantage also came with a price, she said.

"On the flip side, being an only child also entails a greater level of involvement and responsibility in terms of providing care for ageing parents," she said.

"In my own research, people often tell me that being an only child means you're the only person who can be relied upon for parental care as parents age."

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