Living in a foreign country 80% of the young people surveyed contact their families at least once a week

Nowadays, many young people will choose to study and work in other places. How can young people stay connected to their families when they live in a foreign land? Recently, a survey of 1158 young people surveyed by the Social Survey Center of China Youth Daily (wenjuan.com) showed that 80.3% of the young people surveyed contacted their families at least once a week when living in a foreign country. Homesickness (52.0%) and daily greeting exchanges (45.3%) were the main moments for young people surveyed to connect with their families.

Liu Xu, who lives in Hebei, is a 2021 master's degree graduate of a university in Nanjing, and he usually contacts his family once a week, "when he is happy or there is something, he will also contact his family and care about them during festivals or weather changes."

"Even if there is nothing special, if you want to be a family member, you will video with them." Sha Sha (not her real name), from Xinjiang, has lived and studied in Beijing for nearly a decade, and usually keeps in touch with her family once every two days.

The data show that when living in a foreign country, 80.3% of the young people surveyed contacted their families at least once a week, of which 11.2% of the young people surveyed contacted their families almost every day, and 36.6% of the young people surveyed contacted their families twice a week or more. In addition, 16.6 per cent of the young people surveyed contacted their families once or twice a month, and 3.1 per cent of the young people surveyed rarely contacted their families.

"I call when I and my parents are free." Liu Xintang, a post-95 graduate school in Henan, is currently studying in Beijing, and she usually contacts her family once every two or three days, "Sometimes there is something that needs to be discussed with her parents, most of which is small talk."

"Sometimes I'm not in a good mood, and it's much better to talk to my parents." Liu Xintang feels that when living in a foreign country, talking can allow him to regulate his emotions in time, "Of course, you must also learn to heal yourself and be alone, and make some good friends at the same time."

Under what circumstances did the youth surveyed contact their families? 52.0% of the young people surveyed chose homesickness, followed by daily greetings (45.3%), holidays/birthdays (41.0%), work/study achievements (40.5%), others: when sick (31.4%), when interpersonal communication is not smooth (28.0%), when work/study difficulties (24.6%) and when there is no money (22.7%).

"Reading and studying allowed me to go out of my hometown and see the wider world." Liu Xu feels that studying in a foreign country makes him realize many excellent people, motivates himself to be more modest, precipitate and accumulate, "There is also some hesitation about the future, on the one hand, I want to stay in the big city, I feel that there are many opportunities, and I will love my hometown, and I want to use what I have learned to make some contributions to my hometown."

Sha Sha felt that the experience of living in a foreign country and learning to be independent was "not only conscious, but also practical." Rely on what you have learned and experience, and use what you have learned to solve the difficulties encountered."

"Of course, when working outside the home, the encouragement and support of family and friends is also very important." Sha Sha believes that with the support and encouragement of family and friends, I will make myself more at ease in a foreign country, "such as renting a house, preparing for the exam, my parents are very supportive and respect my choices, and my friends will chat with me, which is very important to me."

"The experience of studying for thousands of miles is far greater than regret." Sasha felt that the experience of studying in a foreign country was a particularly beautiful and meaningful experience for himself, "If I had to make another choice, I would definitely not hesitate to stick to my current choice."

"Living in the same place often can lose its freshness." Liu Xintang feels that experiencing life in different places can make his goals more clear, so as to determine whether he will eventually live in his hometown or work hard in other places, "whether it is in his hometown or other places, you must have your own goals."

China Youth Daily and China Youth Network reporter | Sun Shan

Intern | Yang Zhe

Edit | Huang Chong

Cartography | Sun Shan

Typography | Sun Shan