What in the World - Overeducated, underpaid: China’s youth unemployment problem

Download Overeducated, underpaid: China’s youth unemployment problem

More than one in five people between the ages of 16 and 24 are jobless in China according to the latest government data. But the figure could be even higher.

Millions of university graduates are struggling to find high paying jobs. So the government is encouraging them to roll up their sleeves and consider manual work in the countryside instead.

But many aren’t keen and some are ducking out of the rat race all together, sharing memes of themselves ripping up their degrees. We hear from Joy, who says that out of her class of 32, only around a third have found full-time jobs since graduating in the summer.

Laura Bicker, a BBC correspondent based in Beijing, explains what led to this point, and what might happen next.

Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk
WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6
Presenter: William Lee Adams
Producers: Mora Morrison and Emily Horler
Editors: Verity Wilde and Simon Peeks

Published on Wednesday, 10th January 2024.

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