OpinionChina’s economic boom is a great story, but for many it still reads like Les Misérables
- As China’s economic boom continues to predominantly favour the rich and powerful, there are questions about why life for many must be so hard in a period of prosperity
- Anecdotal examples of economic hardship are rife among China’s working class
For those following China’s economic and social developments, a common impression is that there are always two seemingly conflicting stories unfolding in the world’s second-largest economy.
The second story, however, is less encouraging. One might assume that a super cycle of economic growth, spanning more than four decades, must have left most of Chinese society happy and satisfied. But the real picture, as evidenced by no shortage of personal stories, is anything but.
Young and ambitious people are finding it harder to get a decent job; middle-aged employees work themselves to the bone to make ends meet, from mortgage payments to education costs; and many Chinese retirees are finding that the country’s pension and health care systems are not fully prepared to support them.
Tragedies that would not be out of place in books such as Friedrich Engels’ The Condition of the Working Class in England or Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables are still occurring in China, even though it is much more civilised and affluent than Europe in the mid-19th century.