A group of municipal advisers have suggested the government take measures to combat the increasing number of jobless college graduates who are choosing to live off their parents rather than find work.

Local members of the Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party submitted a report to the municipal government about the unemployment problem among young people. They said the problem was connected to the country's family-planning policy.

"More and more college graduates don't choose to find a job after graduation," the report revealed.

Single children

The Wenhui Daily, a local Chinese newspaper, reported that 23.4 percent of the city's total young unemployed population had a junior college or higher education background.

It also reported that more than 10 percent of city-based college graduates chose to live off their parents rather than find a job.

The report showed that most of the jobless graduates were single children.

"Single children always feel self-centered and lack a spirit of teamwork, among other psychological problems," the report said.

Gu Xiaoming, a social science expert and history professor at Shanghai's Fudan University, said society was responsible for curing the "impotence" of the jobless graduates.

Gu said that many young Chinese from only-child families, most now in their 20s to early 30s, were spoiled and not career orientated. When they fail to meet their own expectations, they choose to escape society and live off their "kind" parents, he said.

Gu suggested the government provide more training for jobless graduates.

(Shanghai Daily April 7, 2008)