Chengdu, Sichuan Province / Jun, 2023
Zhao Xiaotong (right, 24), Wang yuanyuan (center, 22), and Ren Jia (left, 24).
The three friends visited Qingyang Temple in Chengdu for fortune telling, a day before attending a large scale job fair in the city. Although the divinations were all favorable, they remained pessimistic about their employment prospects. Zhao and Ren graduated from university two years ago, and Wang one year ago. Despite attending numerous recruitment events, none have found jobs related to their majors and now rely on part-time work to make a living.
成都 四川 / 2003年6月
赵晓彤（右，24 岁）、王媛媛（中，22 岁）、任佳（左，24 岁）
三位好友在参加成都市一场大型招聘会的前一天，专程来到青羊宫求签问卜。尽管卦象显示均为吉兆，她们却依旧对自己的就业前景感到悲观。赵晓彤与任佳已于两年前大学毕业，王媛媛则毕业一年。三人虽参加了多场招聘会，却始终未能找到与专业对口的工作，如今只能靠兼职维持生计。
Chengdu, Sichuan Province / June 4, 2024
Lu Mei (28) and Qi Mingchang (25).
Lu and Qi, a same-sex couple who have lived together for over two years, visited the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding with two girls they have adopted.
According to data released in May 2024 by Silver Lake Consulting, a Shanghai-based advisory firm specializing in China-focused market research, around 46.2 million people in China identified themselves as members of the LGBT community by the end of 2023, accounting for approximately 3% of the country’s total population. Among this group, about 37% were under the age of 30.
For years, this community has been actively striving for equal social rights with heterosexual groups. Although certain demands such as the legalization of same-sex marriage are extremely difficult to achieve in the short term, it has never given up its efforts to pursue its own rights and interests.
四川省 成都市 / 2024 年 6 月 4 日
鲁梅（28 岁）、戚明昌（25 岁）
鲁梅与戚明昌是一对同性伴侣，两人已共同生活两年有余。这天，她们带着领养的两个女儿，一同前往成都大熊猫繁育研究基地游玩。
总部位于上海的专注于中国市场调查的咨询机构Silver Lake Consulting于2024年5月公布的数据显示，截至 2023 年底，中国约有 4620 万人自认为属于性别少数群体（LGBT），约占中国总人口数量的 3%。此群体中，约37% 的人年龄在 30 岁以下。
Leshan, Sichuan Province / June 5, 2024
Xie Chenyang (31)
long as the weather permits, Xie Chenyang wheels his father—who uses a wheelchair—outdoors for daily relaxation every day. A former electrical engineer, Xie lost his job in 2021 when his employer went under amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, he has stayed at home to take care of his paralyzed father and elderly mother, acting as their full-time caregiver.
In China, young people like Xie are known as "full-time children"—those who withdraw from the workforce to care for their parents, often out of necessity after facing unemployment or career setbacks. They take on the roles that would otherwise be filled by nannies or caregivers, saving their parents the expense of hiring outside help.
This phenomenon has two sides to it: on the positive side, it allows for more quality time spent between parents and their adult children. On the negative side, however, a growing number of young people are being forced to stay home simply because they cannot find jobs. High youth unemployment has thus become a pressing social issue in China today.
四川 乐山 / 2024 年 6 月 5 日
谢晨阳（31 岁）
只要天气允许，谢晨阳每天都会推着坐在轮椅上的父亲出门散心。谢晨阳曾是一名电气工程师，2021 年新冠疫情期间，他供职的公司倒闭，谢晨阳因此失业。从那以后，他便居家照顾瘫痪的父亲和年迈的母亲，成为父母的全职照护者。
在中国，像谢晨阳这样的年轻人被称为 “全职儿女”，许多“全职儿女”是在遭遇失业或职业挫折后不得已退出职场，留在家里照顾父母的。她（她）们替代了保姆或者护工的工作，为父母省下一笔雇人开支。“全职儿女”这一现象，积极的一面是父母和儿女之间，有了更多相互陪伴的时间，消极的一面则是由于找不到工作而被迫留在家里的年轻人越来越多，青年失业率居高不下，成为中国如今严峻的社会问题。
Chongqing / June 13, 2024
Zhang Haosheng (32)
Standing on the exterior facade of the 43rd floor of Ascott Apartments at Chongqing Raffles City, Zhang Haosheng—clad in a full set of high-altitude work safety protective gear—is cleaning the glass curtain wall of this iconic skyscraper in Chongqing.
Once the owner of three self-founded coffee shop brands, Zhang saw all his stores close down two years ago due to operational losses. Running the coffee shops not only drained all his savings but also left him unable to repay his bank loans on time. By the end of 2023, he was listed as a person subject to enforcement for breach of trust in the credit reference system of the People's Bank of China. Today, Zhang works as a high-rise building exterior cleaner—a job locally nicknamed "Spider-Man". Though the work is dangerous, it pays relatively well. With this income, Zhang hopes to pay off his bank debts as soon as possible.
As China’s economy slides into a downturn, a large number of small and micro-enterprises have gone bankrupt due to the collapse of their operational cash flow. If the survival conditions of China’s small and medium-sized private enterprises, which have made significant contributions to the economy in the past, continue to deteriorate, it may trigger potential social unrest.
重庆 / 2024 年 6 月 13 日
张浩升（32 岁）
站在重庆来福士广场雅诗阁公寓第四十三层楼的外立面，身着全套高空作业安全防护服的张浩升正在清洗这座作为重庆地标的摩天大楼的玻璃幕墙。
张浩升曾经是三家自创品牌的咖啡店老板，因经营亏损，三家店在两年前倒闭。经营咖啡店不仅耗尽了张所有积蓄，还让他因为无法按时还清从银行的借债，于2023年年底，被中国人民银行征信系统列为失信人。如今，张成了一名高楼外墙清洗工，当地人称这类从业者为 “蜘蛛人”。 “蜘蛛人”的工作虽然危险，但收入相对可观。靠这些收入，张希望尽快还清银行的欠债。
随着中国经济陷入下行，大量小微企业因为经营现金流断裂破产。如果曾经对经济做出过重大贡献的中国中、小规模的民营企业的生存状况持续恶化，可能引发潜在的社会动荡。
Chongqing / June 15, 2024
Wu Ping (32)
Before attending a matchmaking event for older singles, Wu Ping asked a friend to take her photo in front of a flower wall adorned with roses—a symbol of love.
In China, unmarried women over the age of 30 are often labeled as "leftover women" or "older female youth". Many of them not only endure pressure from their parents to get married and start a family, but also face the awkward reality that opportunities to find a suitable partner dwindle as they grow older. It is estimated that there are currently around 7.5 million unmarried young women over 30 years old in China.
重庆 / 2024 年 6 月 15 日
吴萍（32 岁）
在参加一场大龄单身青年相亲会之前，吴萍请朋友为她在象征爱情的玫瑰花墙前拍张照片。
在中国，30 岁以上仍未婚的女性，常常被贴上 “剩女” 或 “大龄女青年” 的标签。她们中的许多人既要承受来自父母催促结婚生子的压力，也要面对随着年龄增长，择偶机会越来越少的尴尬现实。据估算，中国目前约有 750 万年龄超过30岁的未婚青年女性。
Chongqing / July 2, 2024
Yan Yanyan (28)
Shortly after attending the recruitment interview for a clerical position at a state-owned enterprise in the morning, Yan Yanyan received a phone call from the hiring company during lunch, informing her that she had not been accepted. She felt a sense of helplessness, yet was not the least bit surprised.
The position Yan applied for had attracted as many as 5,201 applicants, a considerable number of whom held postgraduate degrees. With only a high school diploma, Yan knew from the very beginning that her chances of success were slim to none.
Against the backdrop of China’s lingering economic downturn, countless young people are struggling to secure stable jobs. Analysts point out that without in-depth structural reforms to the economic system, the persistently high youth unemployment rate is unlikely to improve in the short term.
重庆 / 2024 年 7 月 2 日
闫妍妍（28 岁）
上午参加完一家国企行政岗位的招聘面试后，闫妍妍在午饭时接到了未被招聘单位录用的电话通知。她满心无奈，却并不感到意外。
闫妍妍应聘的这个岗位吸引了 5201人投递简历，其中不少人都手握研究生学历。而只有高中学历的闫妍妍，从一开始就清楚自己的胜算微乎其微。
当下，中国持续的经济低迷让许多年轻人难以觅得一份稳定的工作。分析师表示，若不对经济体制进行深层次的结构性改革，高企的青年失业率短期内恐难出现好转。
Zhengzhou, Henan Province / July 2, 2024
A group of young women wait at a domestic worker market in Zhengzhou, hoping to be hired as nannies. Just a few years ago, nanny jobs were mostly taken by older rural women. Today, due to fierce competition in the labor market, many young urban women are also seeking such work.
河南 郑州 / 2024 年 7 月 2 日
一群年轻女性在郑州的一家家政劳务市场里等候雇主，希望能找到一份到雇主家做保姆或者护工的工作。
就在几年前，在城市家庭中当保姆、做护工这类工作的，还大多是年纪较大的农村女性。而如今，受劳动力市场竞争激烈、工作机会减少的影响，许多城市里女性也开始涌入这一比较低端的就业市场。
Chongqing / August 2, 2024
Yuan Hongqi (31)
Out of fear of the high cost of raising children, and concern that the long periods of pregnancy and breastfeeding might force her out of the workforce, Yuan Hongqi has not had a child in the five years since marrying her husband. As a result, the couple faces pressure from both sets of parents, who hope they will have a child as soon as possible. As a practicing Buddhist, Yuan Hongqi visited Luohan Temple, a renowned Buddhist temple in Chongqing, to pray that her parents would act with compassion and accept, with understanding, the couple’s decision not to have children.
In the first half of 2024, China recorded only 4.33 million births, far below expectations. Since 2017, China’s birth rate has continued to decline, a trend that has raised concerns about demographic imbalance and its potential impact on the country’s future economy. Although the government has introduced measures to encourage marriage and childbearing, an increasing number of young Chinese appear to be taking a cautious attitude toward marriage and raising children.
重庆 / 2024年8月2日
袁红琦（31 岁）
出于对高昂育儿费用的恐惧，以及较长时间的生育哺乳期可能导致被迫退出职场的担忧，袁红琦与丈夫结婚五年仍未生育。由此，夫妻俩承受着来自双方父母希望小俩口尽快生育下一代的压力。作为一名佛教徒，袁红琦来到重庆佛教名刹罗汉寺，祈求父母能慈悲为怀，以宽容的态度对待夫妻俩不愿生孩子的选择。
2024 年上半年，中国出生人口仅 433 万，新增人口数量远低于预期。自 2017 年起，中国的出生率便持续下滑，这一趋势引发了人们对人口结构失衡，以及由此带来的对未来国家经济影响的担忧。尽管政府采取了一些措施鼓励结婚及生育、但在年轻一代中国人中，对婚姻和养育子女持谨慎态度的人似乎越来越多。
Shenzhen, Guangdong Province / February 3, 2023
Zhong Shi (31).
Zhong was waiting for his long separated wife in Central Park, to go to the Shenzhen Civil Affairs Bureau to handle the divorce procedures.
In 2023, China recorded 2.593 million divorces, with a divorce rate of 1.84%. Marriage and family structures in China are undergoing significant changes, marriage rates continue to decline year by year, while divorce rates are rising and family sizes are shrinking. Correspondingly, gender roles and family values among young people are also shifting.
Moutai Town, Renhuai City, Zunyi City, Guizhou Province / July 30, 2024
Liang Qilong (24)
At 3:30 a.m., in a small liquor-making workshop in Moutai Town—hailed as China’s "top liquor-making hub" and a renowned sacred place for sauce-flavored liquor in Renhuai City, Zunyi City, Guizhou Province—Liang Qilong sprinkled sorghum over the fermenting grains.
Liang earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Florida in the United States in June 2023. After returning to China that August, he spent time seeking employment opportunities in first-tier megacities like Shanghai and Guangzhou, hoping to build a career and settle down there. Over the following year, despite repeatedly lowering his expectations, he still failed to land a suitable job in the cities where he wished to live long-term. Eventually, he returned to his hometown, Moutai Town in Guizhou, and took up work as a liquor maker at a local distillery.
In China, students who study abroad and return are known as haigui (overseas returnees). This group was once highly sought-after in the domestic job market. Today, however, amid a slowdown in corporate hiring driven by decelerated economic growth, coupled with state-owned enterprises’ doubts about the loyalty of individuals with overseas study and living backgrounds, returnees as a whole have been caught in a predicament of difficulty finding employment. Their employment dilemma reflects the broader trend of slowing overall economic growth in China—a trend that has completely reshaped the job expectations of the country’s young workforce.
贵州省 遵义市 仁怀市 茅台镇 / 2024 年 7 月 30 日
梁启龙（24 岁）
凌晨三点半，在中国著名的酱酒圣地，被誉为 “中国第一酒镇”的贵州省遵义市仁怀市茅台镇的一间小型酿酒作坊里，梁启龙将高粱撒在正在发酵的粮食上。
梁启龙于2023 年 6 月在美国佛罗里达大学取得心理学学士学位。同年8月回到中国后，梁一直在上海、广州等地寻找就业机会，想在中国一线大城市成家立业。一年时间过去后，虽然梁启龙一再降低标准，却始终未能如愿在他想要长期生活的城市找到合适的工作。最终，他回到他的家乡，贵州省茅台镇，在当地一家酿酒厂做起了酿酒工。
在中国，学成归国的留学生被称为 “海归”，这一群体曾一度曾在中国的就业市场炙手可热。如今，受经济增速下降导致的企业招聘放缓，以及国有企业对有国外学习、生活背景的人士忠诚度有所质疑的影响，在国外学成回国的留学生集体陷入了求职难的困境。海归们的就业窘境，折射出中国整体经济增长放缓的大趋势，而这一趋势也彻底改变了中国年轻劳动者群体的就业预期。
