Full-time children’ in China are young adults who reject the rat race and receive payment from their parents for doing chores while living at home.
Full-time children' in China are young adults who reject the rat race and receive payment from their parents for doing chores while living at home.
The Rise of “Full-Time Children” in China: Rejecting Traditional Careers for a Stress-Free Life
Entering adulthood has traditionally meant becoming independent, which often entailed moving away from your parents. But in China, young people are turning this idea on its head and staying at home, working as “full-time children.” It may sound unconventional, but this trend is gaining popularity among Chinese youth who are embracing a stress-free lifestyle while still earning an income.
In a country known for its grueling work culture, with 72-hour workweeks and high unemployment rates, many young adults are finding traditional careers less attractive. The “full-time children” movement offers an alternative path, where individuals can continue their duties as children in exchange for financial support from their parents or housing costs.
There isn’t a strict criteria for what makes a so-called full-time child, and the associated compensation and responsibilities can vary. Some work involves running errands, doing chores, and taking care of their parents. However, it’s important to note that it’s not simply accepting money from parents while living at home – there are tasks associated with the arrangement.
For example, Julie, a 29-year-old Chinese woman, works as a full-time child, cooking and cleaning for her parents. While she declined her parents’ offer of compensation, they do cover a majority of her living expenses. Julie, recovering from burnout, recounts her last job where she worked 16 hours a day, feeling like a “walking corpse.”
Jia Zhang also embraced the idea of being a full-time child after quitting her job running a small business due to financial hardships from the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, she receives a monthly payment from her parents and takes care of grocery shopping and housework.
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The “full-time children” trend extends beyond these individual examples. Litsky Li, 21, is paid by her family to work for them in various capacities, including running errands and assisting her grandmother who suffers from dementia. Li prefers this lifestyle over the competitive nature of school and work environments.
These choices to become “full-time children” are part of a broader trend in China called “lying flat” and “let it rot.” Many young adults are rejecting modern work culture and expressing feelings of exhaustion and hopelessness. This trend stems from sparse post-graduate job prospects, the overall dread of a bleak future, and the 996 work schedule, which leaves little time for anything else.
While it’s increasingly common for millennials and Gen Z to live with their parents in the United States, the “full-time children” trend in China involves a level of compensation for helping with household and family needs. In fact, there are social media groups devoted to this trend. On the Chinese social network Douban, there is a group with thousands of members, and the popular platform Xiaohongshu has over 40,000 posts about “full-time sons and daughters.”
Although unconventional, the rise of “full-time children” in China reflects a desire for a stress-free and fulfilling life outside the traditional career ladder. It challenges societal norms and allows young adults to prioritize family and personal well-being over corporate ambitions. As the world continues to evolve, these alternative lifestyles may serve as a wake-up call for reconsidering the pursuit of success at the expense of happiness.
