Chen Hai Ying has been a waiter, a handyman, a barista, and a mechanic. He's the definition of the Chinese dream, having paid his way through community college after his family's savings were wiped out in the 1998 Asian financial crisis.
All he wants now is to live a quiet life with his wife and his 8-year-old daughter.
Meanwhile, 900 miles away in Shanghai lives Cassi Xia. She loves a good night out, but her $3,000 monthly salary — which nets her about $2,000 a month after paying rent — limits her to online shopping sprees. Her mother would love for her to settle down within the next two years — she just turned 26 and is one year away from being called a "leftover woman" — but she's resisted those overtures for years.
China has a population of 1.3 billion people in its 22 provinces. At least 400 million of them are millennials. For comparison, the US is home to 72 million millennials.
Insider spoke with six millennials in China, as well as financial and generational experts, to better understand the generation. Importantly, the Chinese millennial is not part of a monolith, and our findings speak to the typical millennial in China, not every millennial.
Read More at https://www.insider.com/meet-the-typical-chinese-millennial-income-housing-ambitions-2021-7
Comments