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BEIJING: China’s rising unemployment has left millions of college graduates in a lurch, with some forced to accept low-paying jobs or even live on their parents’ pensions, a predicament that has given rise to a new working class – “rotten-tail children”.
The phrase has become a buzzword on social media this year, echoing the popular term “luanweilou,” which refers to the tens of millions of unfinished buildings that have plagued China’s economy since 2021.
A large number of college graduates are looking for jobs in the labor market this year due to the sluggish job market caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and a regulatory crackdown on China’s financial, technology and education sectors.
In April last year, the unemployment rate for China’s approximately 100 million 16-24 year-olds exceeded 20% for the first time. When the unemployment rate reached an all-time high of 21.3% in June 2023, officials abruptly suspended the data series to reassess how the data is compiled.
One year later, youth unemployment remains a headache, and the unemployment rate has been readjusted In July, it soared to 17.1%, the highest level in 2024.This summer, 11.79 million college students graduated even though the economy was still reeling from the housing crisis.
President Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed that solving the youth employment problem remains a top priority. The government has called for more channels for young people to engage with potential employers, such as job fairs, and has introduced supportive business policies to help promote employment.
“For many Chinese college graduates, better job prospects, upward social mobility, brighter life prospects — all the things a college degree once promised — have become increasingly elusive,” said Yun Zhou, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Michigan.
Some unemployed young people return to their hometowns to become “full-time children” and live on their parents’ pensions and savings.
Even those with graduate degrees were not immune.
After years of working their way up China’s ultra-competitive academic ladder, “unsuccessful students” find that their qualifications cannot provide them with jobs in the sluggish economy.
Their options are limited. They either lower their expectations for high-paying jobs or find a job that can make ends meet. Some even turn to crime.
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