Amid rise in unemployment in the post-Covid era, an increasing number of Chinese youth are signing up to become “full-time children”. These “adult children” are hired by their parents to do housework or help them out whenever needed.
Hashtags such as #FullTimeChildren, #FullTimeDaughter and #FullTimeSon have been trending on social networking platforms in China in recent months.
Rising unemployment
The unemployment rate among Chinese youth, aged 16 to 24, hit a record 21.3 per cent in June 2023, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. This means over one in five youth in the country are jobless. The revelation comes as a record 11.6 million university graduates are set to enter the Chinese jobs market in 2023.
Dan Wang, chief economist at Hang Seng Bank China, told the BBC that youth unemployment "demands more direct policy responses, because this group of the population is quite vocal online. Their expression of discontent of the current situation may trigger a wider loss of confidence in the economy.”
'Extremely happy'
“I like cooking, and I cook lunch and dinner from Monday to Friday for my family. My parents give me money without interfering with my life. I am extremely happy every day,” a full-time daughter, aged 37, wrote on Douban, an IMDb-like site that allows people to form communities.
Aspiring photographer Litsky Li, 21, is taking care of her grandmother, who has dementia. She is paid a monthly salary of 6,000 yuan (approx. Rs 68,806) by her parents.
“The reason why I am at home is because I can’t bear the pressure of going to school or work. I don’t want to compete intensely with my peers,” CNN quoted Li, a high school graduate, as saying. “I don’t necessarily need a higher paid job or a better life,” she added.
Trend triggered by pandemic
China’s strict Covid-19 lockdown measures have led many young Chinese people to rethink their life goals. “Mentally and psychologically, people in mainland China are still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic. I believe the desire to spend quality [time] with your loved ones, the contemplation about the meaning of life or what is the most important things in life still lingers,” said Fang Xu, a continuing lecturer at the University of California Berkeley, told CNN.
Glorifying unemployment
Lu Xi, an assistant professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, told NBC News that some Chinese state media outlets are trying to “glorify” the emergence of full-time children as “filial piety.” He said that no matter the “beautifications, the underlying essence is still unemployment.”
“Compared to previous years, young people who are now unemployed and stayed at home to study for exams have less confidence that they will succeed in their exam preparation and job hunting. Psychologically, the term ‘full-time children’ allows room for denial and self-deprecation, which make it more acceptable to many,” he added.
