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- [Reporter] A record number of young people in China
graduated from college this year,
but instead of celebrating...
(camera shutter clicking)
Some are marking the milestone on social media
by lying down flat on the ground in their graduation gowns,
looking dejected and exhausted.
After studying for years, they're frustrated
with the struggle to find decent work
as China's youth unemployment rate hits historic highs.
So for some, the better option for now
is to stay at home as so-called full-time children.
- If you have a lot of idle young people
who are not employed, it adds pressure on social stability
which is what the government really is concerned about.
- [Reporter] Here's why millions of Chinese
graduates are out of work.
The term full-time children has gone viral
on Chinese social media.
Videos show young people spending time
with their parents, cooking and cleaning
in exchange for a salary.
(son speaks Chinese)
- They are choosing to stay at home full time.
They are counting on their parents
to continue support them financially.
This is what many people are referring to
as the 'lying flat' phenomenon In China
- [Reporter] Lying flat essentially means
to resist the intense social pressure
to study hard and work even harder.
A record 11.6 million young Chinese
graduated from college this year,
almost 12 times more than 20 years ago.
- Students, they have much higher expectation
for their job income, their job stability,
and what they can derive by doing work.
- [Reporter] But the graduates soon found,
they're competing with thousands of others
for only a handful of jobs
that match their skills and expectations.
Urban youth unemployment hit a record 21.3% in June.
Joblessness in China increased dramatically in recent years
while other countries such as the U.S. saw a spike
in youth unemployment during the pandemic
that rapidly fell as restrictions were eased.
China maintained COVID controls for longer
than most countries, keeping its borders closed
from 2020 to early 2023.
Major cities went through extended lockdowns
that disrupted production.
As the economy slowed, so too, did hiring.
China's youth unemployment rates rose
for six consecutive months this year.
Then in August, the government abruptly announced
that it would stop reporting that data,
citing plans to revisit the methodology.
Analysts say the suspension fits a worrying pattern
of haziness around the true state of China's economy.
To address the youth unemployment problem,
local governments ordered state-owned companies
to hire more graduates.
They're also pushing young people
to take up blue-collared work,
but that's unappealing for a lot of college graduates.
A survey from online recruitment platform,
Zhaopin, found that a quarter of this year's graduates
want to work in the technology sector,
despite the fact that some of China's biggest tech firms
had massive layoffs following a regulatory
crackdown on the industry.
- [Stella Xie] So unless confidence revive in those sectors,
young college graduates will likely continue to struggle
in terms of what kind of work they're looking for to do.
- Down the line, having millions of young people
out of work will have serious
ripple effects for China's society.
- High jobless rate among young people
also exacerbate many other structural challenges
that China already is dealing with.
For example, without stable jobs,
many people are putting off getting married.
They don't wanna have kids, and all these will make
China's demographic situation even worse.
- [Reporter] Some are warning of a lost generation.
It's adding to a long list of challenges for Beijing
to boost growth and attract foreign investors
as the world's second largest economy
tries to rebuild from the pandemic.
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