In recent decades, more than 800 million people in China have ascended from poverty, and the middle class has swelled to approximately 400 million. Rural populations have migrated to urban centers, and tens of millions have gained access to higher education. However, as the country grapples with an economic slowdown, the buoyant aspirations of its working-class youth are increasingly slipping out of reach.
Young professionals facing stagnant wages and disappearing job opportunities find themselves confronting barriers that seem insurmountable. For instance, Boris Gao's aspirations illustrate the stark realities many contend with today. After his parents lost their jobs at state-owned enterprises, his father's pursuit of work as a taxi driver and his mother's struggle to manage their family budget deeply impacted their lives, including Boris's education.
Despite his diligence—having graduated from college in 2016 and subsequently attending a graduate program in Hong Kong—Boris's job hunt was riddled with challenges. He faced exploitative conditions, including unpaid trial periods, and was overlooked in favor of candidates deemed more politically reliable due to their educational backgrounds. The intertwining of class and social standing remains palpable; during one interview, a recruiter bluntly informed him that his family’s lower social status deemed him undesirable for the position.
"I learned that their perspective is that if you struggle, it means you aren't capable enough," he said. For many like Boris, the charming notion of perseverance transforms into a marker of inadequacy, underscoring the harsh realities of an evolving economic landscape where dreams of upward mobility are increasingly thwarted by structural inequities.
