Youth Unemployment in China

Extracted Attributes

• Impact

  Unequal impact on different social regions

• Primary Causes

  Structural misalignment (oversupply of tertiary graduates, limited services sector), cultural preferences for tertiary education, inadequate private sector job creation, skills mismatches, lower economic growth rate, information asymmetry

• Nature of Issue

  Serious social issue, significant domestic challenge

• Youth Attitudes

  Opting to 'lie flat' (remain idle) or become 'professional children' (paid by parents/grandparents)

• Demographic Factors

  Age, sex (women's position deteriorating in labor market)

• New Graduates (2024)

  Nearly 12 million expected to enter labor market

• College Graduates (2022)

  10.76 million

• Government Policy Responses

  Improved tax incentives for businesses to hire unpaid interns, expanded recruitment quotas for civil service, elevated official status of vocational schools, increased funding for vocational schools, tripartite pre-contract system

• Foreign Investment Influence

  Dual influence on labor-market regulation; major source of demand for urban and rural migrant workers

• Youth Unemployment Rate (July 2024)

  17.8% (for 16-24 age group, highest for the year, up 3.3 percentage points from June)

• Youth Unemployment Rate (June 2023)

  21.3% (official record high before data suspension)

• Youth Unemployment Rate (January 2024)

  14.9% (reported by National Bureau of Statistics)

• Youth Unemployment Rate (December 2023)

  14.9% (after revised methodology, excluding students)

Timeline

• Chinese economic reform implemented, leading to increased influence of foreign investment in China. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1980s-early

• Youth unemployment rate in China hit 19.3%. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2022-06

• 10.76 million Chinese college graduates entered the labor market. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2022

• Youth unemployment rate reached an official record high of 21.3%. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2023-06

• Beijing suspended releasing official youth unemployment data. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2023-08

• China's National Bureau of Statistics resumed publishing official youth unemployment figures, reporting a rate of 14.9% (using a revised methodology excluding students). (Source: Web Search Results)

  2023-12

• China's National Bureau of Statistics reported a youth unemployment rate of 14.9%. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2024-01

• The unemployment rate for young people aged 16 to 24 was 17.8%, marking the highest rate for the year and an increase of 3.3 percentage points from June. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2024-07

• Nearly 12 million new graduates are expected to enter the labor market. (Source: Web Search Results)

  2024

Unemployment in China

Unemployment has been a serious social issue in China in recent years, regarding both an increase in quantity and an unequal impact on different social regions. The influence of foreign investment in China has greatly increased since the Chinese economic reform was implemented in the early 1980s. The relationship between foreign-funded enterprises and urban labor market development is dual. Opponents influence the shape of labor-market regulation; however, foreign-funded enterprises have also become a major source of demand for urban and rural areas migrant workers. Demographic factors also affect unemployment in China, such as age and sex. The position of women in the labor market has been deteriorating, with a decline in labor force participation rate, rising unemployment, increased work intensity and a widening gender pay gap.

Web Search Results

• Cultural attitudes key to fixing Chinese youth unemployment

  In January 2024, China's National Bureau of Statistics reported a youth unemployment rate of 14.9 per cent, highlighting a structural misalignment between an oversupply of tertiary graduates and a limited services sector unable to accommodate them. Growing youth unemployment is also exacerbated by cultural preferences for tertiary education, leading to a perception of vocational work as insecure and decreasing the prestige of vocational roles. The services industry has been unable to absorb the [...] ## Share A A A ## Share A A A In January 2024, China’s National Bureau of Statistics resumed publishing official youth unemployment figures. In December 2023 the youth unemployment rate was 14.9 per cent. Beijing suspended releasing the data in August 2023 following its steady year-on-year increase, eventually reaching an official record high of 21.3 per cent in June 2023. [...] Beijing has implemented modest policies to address China’s alarming youth unemployment rate. They have improved tax incentives for businesses to hire unpaid interns and expanded recruitment quotas for the civil service. In 2022, Beijing additionally elevated the official status of vocational schools and increased their funding.

• Youth Unemployment Crisis Looms Large - 21st Century China Center

  According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, there have been 10.76 million Chinese college graduates in 2022 so far. In June, the youth unemployment rate in China hit 19.3%, compared to 15.4% during the same period last year. Economists at BofA Security Inc. estimate that youth unemployment will rise to 23% in July and August. Chinese media and analysts offer three explanations for crisis: Market Friction [...] The growing youth unemployment crisis has clearly gotten the government worried. Government agencies, from Education to Human Resources and Social Security, have swung into action with what they think are innovative policy solutions. A few years ago, the Ministry of Education encouraged students, schools and employers to sign a tripartite pre-contract (三方合同) that guarantees jobs for the students, meets the hiring needs for employers, and burnishes the placement record for colleges. (Baidu [...] Some scholars chalk up the youth jobless rate to cyclical reasons. Feng Lu, a professor from Peking University’s National School of Development, claims that lower growth rate is the main cause of the dire situation. Fudan University professor Kai Yao offers another explanation: he blames youth unemployment on information asymmetry or mismatch between buyers — companies — and sellers — college graduates in the labor market. Simply put, he claims that some of the skills one learns in school do

• CNA: China's Youth Unemployment Rate Hit This Year's New High

  Skip to content # CNA: China’s Youth Unemployment Rate Hit This Year’s New High Primary Taiwanese news agency Central News Agency (CNA) recently reported that China’s National Bureau of Statistics has released China’s unemployment data for July. The unemployment rate for young people aged 16 to 24 was 17.8 percent, up 3.3 percentage points from June. This is not only the highest this year, but also the highest since August 2024. [...] The Bureau’s number only includes the unemployment rate for urban areas across the country, and excludes students. The unemployment rate for workers aged 25 to 29 was 6.9 percent, up 0.2 percentage points from June. In previous graduation seasons, China’s youth unemployment rate also showed a similar upward trend. In August 2024, the youth unemployment rate for those aged 16 to 24 in China was 18.8 percent.Source: CNA, August 19, 2025 Briefings | | | Economy/Resources

• Youth unemployment in China: New metric, same mess

  After a six-month absence, China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has again released official youth employment data for December 2023: 14.9 percent. The government stopped reporting the rate in June 2023, after it had risen continuously to record high of more than 21 percent, as high as 40 percent in rural regions or as high as 50 percent when you factor in part-time or underemployment. The methodology behind the measure, however, has now been revised to exclude students. The lower result [...] Some of the factors in China follow the youth unemployment story we continue to see around the world, including inadequate private sector job creation and skills mismatches. In China, the number of new graduates entering the labor market is also rising—to nearly 12 million in 2024, and there aren’t enough jobs to keep pace, especially as regulatory burdens are dampening growth in industries most likely to employ young people such as technology. [...] continuing to be among the hardest hit. Meanwhile, in the face of grueling hours for low pay, young people in China are opting out, choosing instead to “lie flat”—remain idle and not work or engage in any economic activities—or become “professional children,” paid by their parents or grandparents to live with and care for them.

• China's unemployed young adults who are pretending to have jobs

  The development comes amid China's sluggish economy and jobs market. Chinese youth unemployment remains stubbornly high, at more than 14%. With real jobs increasingly hard to come by, some young adults would rather pay to go into an office than be just stuck at home.