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Building things and breaking things in China (Summer School World Tour)
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A Zi's Story: Young, Unemployed, and Secretly Free
At 27:12 · chapter starts 25:15
Wailin Wong and Darian Woods from The Indicator introduce A Zi — a content editor who quit her job after the relentless pressure of China's 996 work culture (9am to 9pm, six days a week) became too much to bear. For months, she dressed in work clothes, left home at 8am, walked to a cafe, and spent the day drawing — all without telling her parents. [1] — A Zi "A Zi quit her job, then secretly pretended to go to work every morning for months — leaving home in business clothes and spending the day i…" 25:05 Her story is striking in its specificity and its universality: A Zi is one of tens of millions of young Chinese people who have left the workforce or never entered it, with urban youth unemployment hitting 21% in June 2023 before the government suspended publication of the data for 'review.' The Indicator reporters explain the structural economics behind A Zi's situation: China's one-child policy means many young urbanites are only children with access to inherited real estate and family savings, giving them the financial cushion to check out. But the emotional cost of hiding from family and society is real.
China's urban youth unemployment rate hit 21% in June 2023, with the government later suspending publication of the statistics.
