Picture this typical scenario: "Mommy, I want this candy…"
screams "Mr. Chen" as a two-year-old. As a teenager, the request is
more fancy but no less demanding: "Mom, can you buy me a laptop?
All my friends have one." And now in his 20s, Mr. Chen asks:
"Mother, buy me a flat?" Driving a second-hand Volkswagen Bora that
his very doting parents acquired for him, Mr. Chen insists that an
apartment is what he needs to find himself a wife. Car, flat,
woman. He's set for life.
Or is he?
To someone unaccustomed?to new-fangled practices in China,
the above scenario might sound a little strange. But it is a lot
more common than people think, particularly in major cities like
Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
In the West, if young adults continue to stay with their parents
past the age of 18, they usually pay rent or give their parents a
spending allowance in exchange for being allowed to stay.
According to an Internet survey conducted by sohu.com of nearly
10,000 young Chinese adults, 70 percent of them think nothing of
asking their parents for money to buy a flat. Only 30 percent are
opposed to that idea, stating a preference for independence and
self-reliance.
"We are not babies anymore. It's our parents' money, not ours.
We have no right to ask them, even if our parents are willing to
give it to us," -- this was the general sentiment of the minority
30 percent.
Many young working people still live off their parents, earning
for themselves the not-too-complimentary nickname "Ken Lao
Zu" -- Ken means "eat," Lao means "the old,"
and Zu means "a group of people." Literally translated, it
means "someone who lives off the elderly." Other rather
embarrassing monikers include "kidult."
According to the survey, 84.85 percent of the respondents in
Beijing think that it's common practice to buy apartments with
parents' money. In Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province, 86 percent support the
practice; in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, the figure was 74.16
percent; and in Tianjin, 87.71 percent.
Those in support of the practice had this to say: "If it's for
the down payment on a flat, I would definitely consider using my
parents' money."
The making of the Ken Lao Zu
Ma Lei, an editor with sohu.com, offered an explanation for this
seemingly leech-like behavior. The average monthly income of a
young person new to the workforce in Beijing is between 2,000-3,000
yuan (US$250-375). Not everyone is fortunate enough to win the
lottery. The down payment alone on a regular apartment these days
is equivalent to at least five years worth of savings.
Hu Jinghui, deputy general manager of a real estate agency,
admitted that the 80,000 yuan (US$10,000) down payment was paid for
by his father. He said that there was no way he would have been
able to buy the flat otherwise.
Hu listed four main reasons why young adults would turn to their
parents for help. First, many of the marrying age typically only
have four to five years of work experience. Although salaries are
higher in Beijing than in many other cities in China, so is the
cost of living.?
Second, the real estate market is overheated and current housing
prices are too high. Hu said: "Even a second-hand home is
expensive. If you wanted to buy a 60-square-meter flat within the
Fourth Ring Road, you'd need at least 400,000 yuan (US$50,000). The
down payment and extras for renovations could add up to 200,000
yuan (US$25,000)."
Third, he said many families wish to reduce the amount borrowed
from banks to avoid the high interest rates.
Last, in the traditional Chinese view, it is the responsibility
and obligation of parents to take care of their children, even as
adults.
However, Chen Xu, a Beijing-based lawyer, said: "A more
reasonable course of action would be for a young person to first
rent a house, then buy a small one before finally moving on to a
bigger home."
(China.org.cn by Wang Ke, September 5, 2006)