"I Want to Be a Full-Time Child"...Relying on Parents Amid Economic Recession for 'Slow Employment' [China Spotlight]

Young Adults in China Taking Their Time Preparing for Employment While Relying on Parents

Concerned about the difficulty of finding jobs, Chinese university graduates are opting for 'slow employment' by preparing for civil service exams or pursuing graduate studies.

According to the 'University Graduate Employment Research Report' released on the 30th by the Chinese online recruitment platform Zhilian Zhaopin, the proportion of graduates choosing 'slow employment' has been rising annually: 13.1% in 2021, 15.9% in 2022, 18.9% in 2023, and 19.1% in 2024. The percentage of graduates opting for graduate school instead of immediate employment increased from 4.9% last year to 6.5% this year.

This year, the number of university graduates in China reached a record high of 11.79 million, an increase of 210,000 compared to last year. Although the National Bureau of Statistics announced the unemployment rate for those aged 16 to 24 nationwide in October as 17.1%, Chinese experts have questioned the accuracy of this figure, suggesting it is underestimated. Zhang Dandan, associate professor at the National School of Development, Peking University, stated in a paper published last July that the youth unemployment rate nationwide for those aged 16 to 24 was 46.5%.

The Chinese media Shangguan News pointed out that many companies have reduced hiring in recent years, making it difficult for graduates to find satisfactory jobs in a short period. This is also why many men, unable to secure jobs at their desired companies after graduation, resort to temporary delivery work, while many women increasingly sell goods on social networking services (SNS).

As difficulties in the Chinese employment market have persisted for several years, graduates choosing slow employment have led to the emergence of new terms such as 'quanzhi ernu' (全職兒女, full-time children) and 'lanwei wa' (爛尾娃, unfinished children). 'Quanzhi ernu' refers to young people who, after graduating from university, cannot accept low-paying jobs and return to their hometowns to live relying on their parents. 'Lanwei wa' is a compound word combining 'lanwei' (爛尾), meaning 'something left unfinished with a bad ending,' and 'wa' (娃), meaning 'child.' It originates from 'lanweilou' (爛尾樓), where 'lou' (樓) means 'multi-story building' in Chinese. 'Lanweilou' refers to 'unfinished buildings' or 'abandoned apartments' that have been left incomplete for over a year.

Chinese youth researcher He You described the new terms 'quanzhi ernu' and 'lanwei wa' as temporary social phenomena caused by the deteriorating employment market. He advised, "The supply of jobs should be increased so that university graduates who want to work can find employment."

Professor Chen Jianwei of the University of International Business and Economics explained that due to industrial restructuring, the number of hires in traditional industries is inevitably decreasing, leading to employment difficulties for university graduates. He also noted the possibility that parents with higher incomes influence their children's career choices, adding, "According to a survey of undergraduate graduates, 60.95% of those who chose 'slow employment' were receiving financial support from their parents."