Posted on 07/02/2024 7:11:11 AM PDT by Cronos
Rather than splurging on impulsive purchases, China’s young are saving ferociously as the world’s second-largest economy remains in the doldrums.
...A 26-year-old with username ‘Little Zhai Zhai’ is detailing her attempt to cap her monthly spending at just 300 Chinese yuan ($41.28) a month, with a recent video showing how she curtailed her daily meal expenses to just 10 yuan ($1.38).
Others are finding “savings partners” on social media. These partners form a savings circle that ensures its members stick with their goals. Savings measures also include dining at community canteens usually for the elderly, where fresh meals are sold at relatively cheap prices.
...“Young people probably sense the same thing that everyone else does: the economy just isn’t doing that well,” said Christopher Beddor, deputy director for China research
...While China’s first-quarter GDP beat expectations to log a 5.3% year-on-year growth, forecasts still point to a continued slowdown, with the International Monetary Fund seeing a 4.5% growth in 2025.
...Unemployment rate among youths aged 16 to 24 came in at 14.2% in May, well above the national average of 5%. While there are no official statistics for monthly wages earned by undergraduates, a survey found that the average monthly salary of those with undergraduate degrees earned in 2023 was 6,050 yuan ($832), 1% higher from a year earlier, according to domestic reports compiled by MyCOS research and published on local media .
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
well it is good that they are saving now... but I don’t get the “revenge” part.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=revenge+saving&ia=web
actually revenge is a popular word lately for all media. Brought to you by Trump?
but revenge against who or what? revenge has to be directed at someone or something
but revenge against who or what? revenge has to be directed at someone or something
But you do deserve a Thinking Cap (tm). It is red and says MAGA. Wear it proudly in public.
Revenge against white supremacy and racism, and also widespread homophobia in America.
(Having a song with only one note makes it easy to apply anywhere!)
“Confidence and Animal Spirits have disappeared among the youth. It’ll take years if not longer of a boom market before [they] feel comfortable to revenge spend,” said Rein.
Intersting, from the article.
Revenge spending is a financial phenomenon based on reacting to an emotional event and it refers to a person increasing their spending after a period of challenges. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic reduced our ability to spend on common leisure activities, and now many are increasing the amount they spend on them.
In some ways, revenge spending can be beneficial – it helps boost our economy and provide some emotional relief after a period of going without things you enjoy. However, it can become a problem when spending begins to outpace your budget, or you allocate too much of your money to “wants” versus “needs.”
Saving up for court costs?
The shocking way China is dealing with rash of boys slaughtering little girls
https://nypost.com/2024/06/30/world-news/china-reels-from-rash-of-young-boys-murdering-girls/
Given the lack of reliable official stats, you gotta wonder about the accuracy of this claim. The problem is the real estate crash. The bubble may have been inflated by an all hands approach, within families, towards mortgage financing supercharged by the one child rule. Parent and grandparent pitched in to help the grandchild purchase a home. But all that cash concentrated on one child/grandchild meant the kid could afford to really pay up, which distorted pricing way beyond where it should have ended up. The bubble popped when families ran out of cash to throw into the mortgage furnace. Pricing got to a level beyond what three generations of savers could support.
The popping of the bubble has caused a serious economic downturn, where everyone in the massive real estate supply chain is facing financial ruin. Layoffs are ubiquitous for every supplier that fed the beast. The economic bubble, the outsized spending fed by the housing bubble, is also deflating. From affordable luxury to the rarefied upper reaches, foreign multinationals are reporting big drops in Chinese sales.
Where price was no object in ratcheting up unit volumes, foreign brands are now having to reduce the pricing gaps vis-a-vis Chinese brands to preserve market share. There’s still a premium, but a smaller one. Where the premium was once a selling point, i.e. it was not just important that the customer could afford it, it was important others could not, such premiums are shrinking in the face of widespread economic hardship, of pay cuts and layoffs.
Here’s a vignette:
The unearthly levels of financial stress from the crash are probably feeding a baby bust beyond what was already evident as the bubble inflated. This is why the removal of any limits on childbirth is pushing on a string. People who are struggling to keep their heads above water aren’t thinking about having one child, let alone multiple children.
but revenge against who or what? revenge has to be directed at someone or something
Mao was really good at that. One week Lin Piao is the greatest thing since sliced bread, the next week he’s Public Enemy Number One.
Their elders, the children of the elite, and the government. They perceive that China's system has ripped them off and enriched the worthless, therefore they are refusing to spend and contribute to it.
The government expects you to have kids, buy things, and as a result, pay taxes. By being exceptionally cheap, you’re fighting back against the established norms, and against the taxation expectations.
Its CNBC, after all. Articles are written by interns from low-level universities who studied woke studies. They are are not influenced by logic, shame or contradiction.
“People refusing to spend money is a true phenomenon here,” said Jia Miao, an assistant professor at NYU Shanghai. “For some of the young people, it’s simply because they cannot find a job or they just found that it is more difficult to increase their income. They have no choice but to spend less money,” she added.
Again, always read past the headline (although they can be entertaining).
No evidence is given in the article for increased savings. ONLY reduced spending. And the reason for reduced spending?
Its a side benefit to the “Let It Rot” movement. Here, young people buy the cheapest things that get the job done, like cheap left over restaurant food, simple phones, even to wearing PJs everywhere instead of stylish clothes.
More like binge saving... Or just simply frugal, or just smart.
They understand that “a penny saved with interest is two penny earned”.
With zero expenses for housing, health, transportation, clothing, etc. she must be living with mom and dad. Sorry, no adulting sticker for 26 year old Little Zhai Zhai.
Oh I get all that, I just don’t understand the “revenge” part of it. Revenge on who for what?
She claims to be only spending on meals, who’s paying her rent, transportation, health, clothing, etc.? If not her parents, then who? If mom and dad are who she’s revenging, then she’s as messed up as 26 year old American kiddies.
Canada is heading there. And we're next in line.
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