The Chinese Economy and the Struggles of the Youth

Government policy has not been kind to young people, and it’s likely to get worse.

Courtesy of the author

Even though it no longer affects me personally, I do still keep one eye on the state of China and its economy. After all, I do still know people over there and retain a certain curiosity about what they’re going through.

The latest news concerns China’s young people. The whole article is worth reading, but here are a few takeaways:

Covid restrictions drained momentum from an economy already reeling from a collapse in the property market. A government crackdown on fast-growing industries such as technology and private education has sapped opportunities in the private sector, intensifying competition for civil servant jobs and admission into graduate schools.

There’s a Chinese joke: You graduate from university and become unemployed. It’s uncharacteristically dry for China, but maybe that’s because it’s not really a joke.

I’ve written a bit some of these issues, such as real estate and education. The long and short of it: When the Chinese economy was booming a few years back, the government took steps to restrict parts of that economy in the name of general welfare and public morality. Now that the economy is slowing down…