Chinese are finding it tough to get by in the big city, and that's pushing some young people back to their hometowns to find work, according to a new research presented at a forum on urban and rural development launched by the Chinese Sociological Association.
These decisions, says Wang Xiaolu, a deputy professor at the Faculty of Social Science at Nanjing Agricultural University, are economically driven. A third of the returnees say they can't support themselves or their families in the city, and a quarter were unhappy with their current jobs. The rest just believe their hometown offers more chances. Wang added that some other factors, like family reunions, better educational chances for their kids, or the need to look after elderly relatives, also push people back home.
The development of e-commerce has made small cities much more attractive places to work. Many graduates are making use of online trade to start their own businesses drawing on their hometown's specialties, often with help from local government. But if they're not tapped in, they may lose out, says Wang. Returnees with experience and resources can make a lot of money, but 30 percent of home-goers want to head back to the city in the end.
Old Version
