“Students, intellectuals and emerging urban middle classes were among the groups where a lot of effort was put into what is sometimes called ‘strategic generosity,’ making sure they have a relatively comfortable life,” said Andrew Gilholm, Control Risks’ senior analyst for China and Northeast Asia. “They are very much aware that they are the beneficiaries of how things are now, and any instability would be more of a threat than an opportunity for them.”
Yet if the employment prospects at the end of a degree appear to be dimming, shutting off one of the few remaining avenues of social mobility in an increasingly stratified society, it risks creating long-term disillusionment with one-party communist rule.
Barely half this year’s college leavers have secured jobs, Caijing magazine quoted a survey as saying, a figure far below official figures that two-thirds have signed contracts.
Although statistics on balance show that a job helps protect against suicide, even those in employment will be strained when the economy is rough, said Paul Yip (葉兆輝), Director for the Center for Suicide Research and Prevention at the University of Hong Kong.
“Whenever you have a poor economic climate you have to lay off a lot of people to save costs. But for those who remain in their jobs, because they have to do some additional work to cover the other workers, they are not necessarily immune to pressure,” he said.
No longer a guaranteed ticket to a better job or salary, an education may provide one consolation, however, in a country that has always held its intellectuals in high esteem.
“The pressure they face isn’t necessarily any more than that on ordinary workers. But if the university students face bad conditions, then the middle classes, the intellectuals, tend to rally around,” Li said. “There are actually many instances of ordinary workers jumping from buildings ... they just don’t get much attention.”
RSS