“China’s Ant Tribe”

Posted on 28 June 2010.

"They sleep in boxy rooms crammed into dingy low-rises and spend hours commuting to work on crowded buses." They are the "struggling college graduates who swarm out of their cramped accommodations and head to work in the urban sprawl each morning." Reuters has described them as "China's ant tribe".

High property prices and dim career prospects have thwarted the ambitions of many university graduates for a comfortable middle-class lifestyle. "This is hard, but there's no other way," said college-educated software technician Kong Chao, 24, who is relatively fortunate as he has a toilet and cooking area in his cramped room and doesn't have to share with other tenants. Recent graduates can live eight to 10 in a flat in apartment buildings without heat or hot water.

Reuters comments that, "The rising number of graduates living on the edge of poverty in China's biggest cities could become a socio-economic challenge for the Chinese government."

A glut of job seekers and the financial crisis mean that companies in popular cities such as Beijing have slashed monthly wages by over 50 percent. At the same time, property prices have risen by around a third in some cities, turning the possibility of owning their own home into a distant dream for many young couples.

"When they're 26, 27 or 28, they'll say 'I need to buy a house', because that means eligibility for marriage," said Tom Doctoroff, a Shanghai-based consumer trends author. "If the time comes to get married and you can't buy, that causes anxiety."

Yet in some ways, these graduates are the lucky ones - for many others the problem is getting a job in the first place.

Pray for young graduates facing new and unexpected challenges, whether that be living in very basic circumstances or simply finding a job.

Pray for those in government who make decisions on policies. May they find the right balance between increasing access to higher education while at the same time providing suitable employment and housing for those who graduate from universities and colleges.

Pray for Christian believers to reach out and befriend the recent graduates who are struggling in difficult circumstances. Pray that these young people might know God's love, hope, peace and joy in their lives.