Survey finds almost a third of China’s college graduates live with their parents

World Today

Survey finds 30 percent of China's college graduates live with parents

For many young people, graduating from college means the start of their own life. However, for millions of young people in China, that may not be the case. A new report has found 30 percent of Chinese college graduates still live with their parents, many of them, unemployed. CCTV America’s Grace Brown reports from Beijing.

Survey finds 30 percent of China\'s college graduates live with parents

For many young people, graduating from college means the start of their own life. However, for millions of young people in China, that may not be the case. A new report has found 30 percent of Chinese college graduates still live with their parents, many of them, unemployed. CCTV America's Grace Brown reports from Beijing.

Twenty-two year old Mark Shuai just graduated. He lives with his parents, but says he is not job-hunting. Instead, he’s heading to Mexico in two months to teach Chinese.

Others are less upbeat. Gu Feilong graduated five years ago. He now sells houses but is struggling to save for his own.

“You can’t afford to buy. It would take at least four years for me to put a deposit down,” said Feilong. “My only chance is a flat near the sixth ring road, outside Beijing. That’s why I live with my mum.”

Kang Xiang, 32, was one of the luckier ones. She bought her flat five years ago before the bubble began.

“Homes in Beijing are so expensive. When I bought, it was 5,000 yuan per square meter. Prices have jumped so fast,” said Xiang. “Now, it’s almost 20,000. There’s no way anyone earning what I earn, could afford to buy now.”

Along with high home prices, rising rents and difficulty finding a good job mean more and more young Chinese now rely on their parents. According to a new survey by Peking University, one in three Chinese college graduates now live with their parents — and are mostly unemployed.

Labor economist Du Yang said graduates should be more flexible, given the scarcity of white-collar work.

It may take years for China’s economy to re-balance. Until then, its graduates are caught between the future, and a hard place.