Editor’s Note: A recent, extensive survey by the Beijing Youth League examined the five categories of young Chinese who live in Beijing. What is life like for a native Beijinger vs. a child of migrants? What struggles do professional transplants in Beijing face?

What is life like for young people in Beijing? A book published in September titled Chinese-Style Struggle has the answer.

The book was published after a long investigation on life for Chinese young people in Beijing. In October 2013, the Beijing Youth League launched the “Beijing Youth 1% Sample Survey,” which lasted a year and a half. 108,000 young Beijingers answered the survey and Beijing Youth League conducted more than 6,000 in-depth personal interviews.  

The questionnaire showed that young Chinese living in Beijing can be divided into five categories.

1) Native Beijingers: 3.21 million young Chinese hold a Beijing hukou card. This is 35.5 percent of all young Chinese in Beijing. Native Beijingers had access to a great education in Beijing as children and generally have family support in their young adulthood. However, most of them have moved out near the edge of the ring rounds to the fringe areas of the city because of the lack of affordable housing in the inner rings.

2) Teenage Transplants: These young adults moved to Beijing as teenagers with their families. They also have a Beijing hukou which makes it easier to attend university and find a job in Beijing. There are about 1.44 million young Chinese in this situation, or 14.5 percent of all young Chinese in Beijing. They generally have a high level of education and a stable job with good benefits. These Beijing transplants often end up working in Beijing municipal government departments and institutions. They also have the support of their parents who live in Beijing.

3) Professional Transplants: This group is made up of non-Beijing natives in Beijing who have worked or lived in Beijing for more than eight years. There are 700,000 young Chinese in this group, or 7.1 percent of young Chinese in Beijing. Their annual income is slightly higher than those in the other groups. These young professionals work in journalism, publishing, entertainment, tech and science-related companies, in business or for startups. Some are even freelancers. They generally have a high salary and stable housing but are limited by their lack of hukou. It is often difficult for them to buy a car or send their children to public school.

4) Migrant Youth: This category is made up of young non-native Beijingers who have recently arrived in Beijing and make less the average income for youth. 3.33 million people or 33.3 percent of young Chinese in Beijing fall into this category. Many are young and in early career positions.

5) Children of Migrants: These are non-native Beijingers without hukou cards that followed their migrant parents to Beijing. 6.9 percent of young Chinese or about 680,000 people fall into this category. They generally come from poor families, often have trouble completing high school and taking the college entrance exam. They usually do not qualify for Beijing social security. They identity with Beijing but it is difficult for them to legally become Beijingers.

Source:iFeng

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Keywords: young people in Beijing Chinese youth in Beijing