[News Terms] The Growing '4Bul Youth' Amid Anxiety Among Chinese Young Adults

The term '4-bul (不) youth' refers to young people in China who refuse to engage in dating, marriage, home ownership, and childbirth.

It is a concept not much different from Korea's '3-po generation,' who give up dating, marriage, and childbirth, or the '5-po generation,' who give up dating, marriage, childbirth, home ownership, and even human relationships.

Young people in China.
Photo by Beijing AFP/ Yonhap News

On the 11th, Hong Kong's Qingdao Daily reported, "A local government in China is even operating matchmaking applications for young people to promote dating and marriage, but the number of '4-bul youth' is actually increasing," adding, "With the economy not recovering and youth unemployment soaring to an all-time high, anxiety is intensifying."

Last year, the number of marriage registrations across China was 6.83 million, down 800,000 from the previous year (7.63 million). This is the lowest figure since marriage registration statistics began being compiled in 1986. The number of marriage registrations in China has been declining for nine consecutive years since 2014.

The youth unemployment rate for those aged 16 to 24 in China reached a record high of 20.8% in May. May, during the academic semester, is not typically a period of high youth unemployment, yet it hit its peak. Compared to 10.1% in 2018 before the COVID-19 pandemic, it has doubled in four years. Under these circumstances, young people claim that dating, marriage, home ownership, and childbirth are virtually impossible.

According to Qingdao Daily, Chinese youth express dissatisfaction, saying things like, "How can someone who cannot support themselves financially date and get married to start a family?" and "Support should be given for employment, not dating."

The US New York Times (NYT) also reported on the 10th (local time) that "political and economic turmoil among young people in China is a reason for not getting married." The NYT diagnosed, "Confidence in the future among China's youth is greatly shaken," adding, "The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the strong social control under President Xi Jinping are intensifying the anxiety among young people."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.