China’s ‘full-time children’: job market pushes young professionals to stay at home

Artikel • 21/12/2023 • Welcome to the Jungle

Living off an allowance in your mid-twenties or even your thirties can be a blessing or a curse. In China, the phenomenon has gone viral on social media. Young people are either unhappy with their jobs or struggling to find one – leading some to stay at home as ‘full-time children.’ The trend is just the latest example of how young professionals in China are trying to regain some control over their lives.

At a time when others her age are studying or working, 24-year-old Chen* is a full-time daughter. Her only job is to be her parents’ child. They don’t give her a fixed salary per se, but they have opened a shared bank account that she can access. “Occasionally, they also transfer money to me,” she adds.