Are China’s Youth Still “Optimistic” Post Covid-19?

As China recovers after a nationwide Covid-19 lockdown, the country’s economic growth faces its worst downturn since 1976. Yet despite everything, Chinese youth are still optimistic about their future — at least, according to a recent major survey.

As a joint research project between Chinese dating app Tantan, state media outlet China Youth Daily and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the survey published in early May covers topics ranging from family relationships and online learning to savings and health consciousness in the post Covid-19 era.

Most strikingly, it found that 43.5% of respondents have a positive outlook on the future, with only 8.5% saying they have a negative outlook. The results were compiled from some 3,790 responses from individuals aged between 18-28.

Prior research by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) uncovered a similar trend — namely, that China’s economic growth and security for large swathes of the population in recent decades is believed to have created one of the most optimistic young generations anywhere on the planet.

The report also shows a major attitude shift when it comes to how the (young) public view first responders and other essential workers. Medical workers, community professionals, military personnel, construction workers, and delivery drivers are the top five most respected professions, according to respondents.

Interestingly, 96.5% of people also claim to have more national pride amid coronavirus, while 79.8% of people felt that social problems revealed by the pandemic need to be solved.

Young people are also seemingly more appreciative of family relationships, largely as a result of the increased isolation that came amid sweeping lockdown measures affecting much of the country. Around 44.3% of respondents think that their relationships with their families have been strengthened since the outbreak.

However, many users on social networking apps like Tantan (探探) are white-collar workers in first-tier cities, according to a recent report by iiMedia Research. While the survey does provide some insight into what Chinese youth are currently feeling, whether or not the optimism of the survey group is widely shared among other young demographics remains unclear. 

The survey results follow the release of a recent Youth Day video (see the link below). The video, which implied that young people should be “grateful” to the older generation, sparked outrage among young social media users. Many young netizens said that they struggle to make only a modest living — the opposite of what that video portrays.

Header image: Pim Chu via Unsplash

All infographics: Martina Monelli

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