I am slow. Last night my wife and I watched the Chinese/English movie "Saving Face." No, I didn't really enjoy the content, but the idea of how much and to what extent the Chinese will go to 'save face' was quite evident.
Chinese college grads, it seems, would rather go hungry than apply for government assistance if they (the grads) cannot find a job.
The subsistence allowance is mediocre at best - $38 in Beijing...$27 in Zhengzhou.
Students opt to mooch off their parents or partner, or get a part-time job, any job rather than 'lose face' by going to a government office to apply for the allowance.
China's student population like everything else in China is growing. However, according to a labor market research center at Beijing Normal University, only 73% of grads actually find a job.
So, what happens to the other 27%?
The consensus is that more effort should be focused on creating jobs rather than raising the unemployment allowance. Here! Here!
In the US, students would cry "give me more!" while I look around.
A graduate of Sichuan University was quoted in Xinhua, "If you get into the habit of relying on minimum living allowance, you will become lazy and unable to advance."
Well, it seems to me that this student has already learned one life lesson that many in the US have never learned.
It all comes with wanting to 'save face.'
That attitude is needed much more in the US.
What do you think?
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