Working with residents in need of help, they go door to door every day and, as needed, run errands for them, with particular attention paid to “five specific groups”: people struggling with frustration, failed investments, mental disorders, relationship problems or mental disorders.

“All [working] “she was very tense,” Liu said.[We’re] “paying attention to families who are long-term unemployed or in debt, offering them individual care to distract from their depression and anger.”

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‘Let It Rot’: Surviving China’s High Unemployment and High Cost of Living

‘Let It Rot’: Surviving China’s High Unemployment and High Cost of Living

The reaction of Chinese social media users to the latest spate of brutal attacks reflects widespread discontent over the country’s economic recession and deteriorating job prospects.

“The police told us that [the attacker] was unemployed and down on his luck, and someone in our group bumped into this man,” said one of the four men, as quoted by NBC News.

“And he decided to answer the way he did.”

On June 19, a man reportedly stabbed three passengers at a Shanghai subway station. The case is under investigation.

Meanwhile, two separate clashes between customers and staff at a Manner Coffee shop in Shanghai sparked heated online debate, with related threads on microblogging platform Weibo racking up billions of views.

Tens of thousands of users posted comments under posts about these incidents, discussing whether the riots were caused by high work intensity and low wages.

According to local media reports, the average barista at Manner Coffee has to make more than 300 cups of coffee a day, earning about 6,000 yuan ($825) a month.

The rise in these incidents can be attributed at least in part to rising unemployment, said Yu Hai, a sociology professor at Fudan University in Shanghai. “The middle class, in particular, is the group that has been hit hardest by unemployment and falling incomes.”

Private companies in China, which have struggled to return to growth since the pandemic, employ more than 80% of city workers.

“Falling job and income expectations are causing conflicts between different social classes. The government must recognize that these incidents are not isolated but reflect broader social trends,” Yu said. “The middle class in particular will shrink during this wave of economic crisis, and its anxiety and despair will grow accordingly.”

As we read in the article, the cause is the “negative evolution of social mentality” in the national and international environment.

“Factors such as children’s education, income pressures, mortgage costs, and resilience to psychological stress have led to a gradual transformation of offline to online pressures, which has resulted in increased hostility and increased confrontation in public opinion.”

Liu Fei, a social worker, said this fits with her own experience. “When the economy is in recession, people become more aggressive, and conflicts between strangers increase. I remind my family every day not to argue with strangers.”

According to the Urban Depositor Survey report conducted by the People’s Bank of China – a survey of more than 20,000 households nationwide – the Income Sentiment Index, Income Confidence Index and Labor Sentiment Index have been declining and remaining at low levels for the past three years.

In the first quarter of 2024, 13.2% of residents said they expected their income to increase, 69.6% said they thought their income would stay the same, and 17.3% expected their income to decrease compared to the previous quarter.

The income confidence index was 47.0 percent, the PBOC said, with 10.5 percent of residents agreeing with the statement “the situation is good, employment is easy.” Meanwhile, 43.0 percent considered the situation “average” and 46.5 percent agreed with the statement “the situation is serious, employment is difficult.”

Calling for “full and high-quality employment,” Xi was clearly referring to widespread complaints of illegal layoffs at some companies and pointed to a mismatch between supply and demand for labor in some sectors, especially among young people.

“Employment is the most basic source of people’s livelihood. It is related to the healthy development of the economy and society and the long-term stability of the country,” Xi said, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

“The core of the current government’s policy is still [control risk]but the government should work with society to overcome difficulties,” Yu said. “Social and urban management policies must be tolerant, compassionate and empathetic.”