Opinion | For the sake of its economy, China must address youth unemployment

Beijing is already throwing the sink at the problem, from finding ‘new productive forces’ and sending youth to the countryside to making university deans knock on company doors for jobs

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University students attend a job fair in Wuhan, in central China’s Hubei province, on March 6. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:30pm, 20 Mar 2024

Beyond the economic issues highlighted at China’s “two sessions” or parliamentary meetings, the government must address increasing youth discontent, which is primarily due to rising youth unemployment.

While the previous generation was enriched by China’s reforms and opening up, those born under the one-child policy face different concerns amid economic and job market challenges as the country embraces a dual circulation strategy.

Adding to the diversity of youth frustrations, which has spawned the “lying flat” movement among others, is growing unemployment. From April 2019 to April 2023, the urban youth unemployment rate doubled to 21.3 per cent, exacerbated by the zero-Covid policy and stringent lockdowns.

Local governments focused on virus containment often overlooked the economic impact of their actions, in particular on the service sector, which employs many young people. The challenging youth job market has intensified generational tensions even as the economic slowdown spotlights the burden of an entire generation of only children having to support their parents.

Among the jobless, there are those lucky enough to be “full-time children”, paid by generous parents in return for care – a phenomenon that reflects job market challenges more than filial piety. But even such arrangements can eventually lead to frustrations.

This year, China is expected to produce a record 11.8 million graduates, even as the government faces pressure to create enough jobs for them. Last year, an estimated 7.7 million people took the civil service examination to vie for about 200,000 jobs, according to CNBC. This was seen as a fundamental skills mismatch in the Chinese job market.

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.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Beijing is already throwing the sink at the problem, from finding ‘new productive forces’ and sending youth to the countryside to making university deans knock on company doors for jobs

Beijing is already throwing the sink at the problem, from finding ‘new productive forces’ and sending youth to the countryside to making university deans knock on company doors for jobs