Gen Z is turning filial piety into a career path

Hong Kong has always had a simple answer to what young people should do with their lives: study hard, get a job, work harder, buy a flat and eventually complain about the next generation. That formula is becoming harder to sell.

A whole lexicon has grown up around Generation Z’s uneasy relationship with work. In mainland China, there are “full-time children”, young adults who stay home and receive an allowance from their parents in return for doing household chores and running errands. Elsewhere, there is the “kangaroo tribe”, an updated version of adults remaining financially dependent on their parents. There are Neets, or young people not in education, employment or training.

While the labels differ, the underlying phenomenon is harder to ignore. More young adults are struggling to make the traditional transition to independence.

Hong Kong offers an especially revealing case. Consider university graduates with a respectable degree and little work experience. They apply for dozens of jobs, perhaps hundreds, only to find that “entry level” increasingly means “entry level for someone who already has experience”.

Employers want experienced workers, but young people need jobs to gain that experience. A position for fresh graduates can demand several years of achievements before an applicant has even had a chance to begin.

Against this backdrop, becoming a full-time child looks less absurd than it sounds. If a young adult can stay at home, avoid Hong Kong’s punishing housing costs, receive an allowance and help around the house, why rush into a poorly paid job with little security and even less prospect of progression?