Why Are So Many Young Chinese Depressed?
Growing disillusionment and depression among younger Chinese is not merely a symptom of the recent economic slowdown. In fact, the problem has been decades in the making, and owes much to China’s rigid education system, past fertility policies, and tight rural-urban migration restrictions.
SHANGHAI – China’s high youth unemployment rate and increasingly disillusioned young people – many of whom are “giving up” on work – have attracted much attention from global media outlets and Chinese policymakers. The standard narrative is to associate the problem with the country’s recent growth slowdown. In fact, the issue goes much deeper.