What remind you of Generation Y? Ambitious, demanding, gregarious, multitasking or sometimes self-absorbed? In China, they are known as post-80s generation and their nickname is “ants”. Here is their stories we summarized from Tianya:
‘Yi Zu’(蚁族), ants swarm, is a terminology used to describe a group of young people who live as ants in the modern society. Ant is the animal in a lower level of the biological chain, which usually stands for small and weak in Chinese tradition.
‘Small and Weak’, yes, it is a good summary of the current situation held by a group of young people in the big cities (Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chongqing) in China. However, the most interesting point is that those young people are equipped with high education but weak society status.
There are three features of ‘Yi Zu’—intellectual, helpless and live in herds, which is also why they are called ‘ants in the society’. Most of these young people are born after 1980, graduate from universities, yet live with low income in large cities.
Picture from Flickr
Their lives:
Renting small rooms in aged buildings, most of them are sharing an apartment. Some villages which are not removed by the development of cities become a popular accommodation for the ‘ants’, simply because it is cheap and perhaps it is the only affordable place. Lin Wang, a graduate from a teacher training university, spends 300 Yuan (about 50 US dollars) in renting a 10-square-meter room and cooks his own meal.
Picture from ‘Guangzhou Daily’
Their work:
The salary is just enough to support their own. Many recent graduates claim that it is very difficult to get a job and usually the first job is just to feed them. They can then start to look for other opportunities when reducing fears of starving. Bingling, who graduated in July 2009, said her current job is to processing data in the Advertising Department for a media company, which has nothing to do with her major of information management. Her net income is 1600 Yuan (around 267 US dollars) per month with the company paying for her society and medical insurance. ‘This money can only cover my living fee, not nearly enough to take care of my parents’ said by her.
Their Attitude:
However, the ‘ants’ are quite optimistic and energetic. They are not willing to leave the big cities but rather live in such a poor-quality environment with the spirit of fighting for their ways to success.
Comments for higher education:
This ‘ants’ phenomenon triggers wide discussion in the society. Some declare that it is a direct result of the massification of higher education (高等教育大众化), which produces an increasingly larger number of university graduates. Therefore, graduates from higher education are not as scarce as before, in turn, the society wealth will not flow to them as easily as in the old days. If being dug deeply, perhaps the fact is because available resource attached to each graduate is in a diminishing scale.
Lastly, take a look at how a couple of ‘ants’ live a simple but happy life in Guangzhou. The total income per month is 2200(Boy)+1600(Girl) Yuan per month.
Their bedroom with decorations made by hand
A simple clothes closet, bought at 160 Yuan (around 26 US dollars)
Dining table
A tiny kitchen
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