Since the beginning of 2023, the impact of the pandemic has gradually faded and people's lives have gradually returned to normal. However, although the post-pandemic retaliatory consumption and home buying predicted by experts have not appeared, especially the consumption and home purchase demand has shrunk to a certain extent, people are still actively saving. Behind this saving behavior is mainly due to the fear of unemployment, illness and other unexpected situations.
In the face of the current domestic economic situation, some insiders pointed out that after the new crown epidemic has been raging for several years, the virus strain will mutate, and its harm will gradually weaken. However, there are four factors that could be more challenging than the pandemic and have a greater adverse impact on society. At present, many people are aware of these problems and advise the general public to prevent them in advance.
First, unemployment continues to rise.
After three years of the epidemic, many real enterprises have experienced varying degrees of decline in efficiency, even Internet giants such as Ali and JD.com are also laying off employees and cutting salaries. As a result, demand in the recruitment market continues to shrink. At the same time, more than 11 million recent college graduates have joined the job market this year, and a large number of socially unemployed people also need to look for work. This situation has led to high unemployment.
In order to make ends meet, many young people choose to work in occupations such as food delivery, express delivery, and ride-hailing. Still others choose to apply for the civil service in the hope of securing a stable job and income. However, the examination for civil servants is a one-way bridge, and the success rate is very low. Excessive unemployment not only puts enormous pressure on individuals and families, but also poses a potential threat to social stability.
Second, the debt ratio of residents continues to rise.
In fact, the debt ratio of mainland residents was relatively low more than a decade ago, but now it has risen sharply. On the one hand, due to rising house prices, many families can only buy a home through loans. Relevant data show that the total amount of housing loans for mainland residents is close to 39 trillion yuan, more than 200 million people are house slaves, and 200 million people participate in joint repayment.
On the other hand, the change in young people's consumption concept is also an important factor driving up the debt ratio. Many young people are more inclined to borrow money to spend. According to data, more than 90% of the post-90s generation on the mainland are saddled with debts, and the per capita debt reaches 127,000 yuan. Although debt consumption can meet consumer demand in advance, excessive debt will increase the economic pressure on individuals, and if there is a loss of income or unemployment, they may fall into the predicament of debt crisis.
Third, food safety issues need to be solved urgently.
Food safety has always been one of the issues that our country attaches great importance to, but in recent years, domestic food safety problems have emerged one after another, which is worrying. From the "dirty, messy, and poor" production and manufacturing environment of some food enterprises, to the use of inferior or expired ingredients, to the illegal merchants adding various unknown additives to food. These behaviors not only harm the rights and health of consumers, but also seriously affect the health and life safety of citizens.
In order to seek more profits, some unscrupulous businesses even add some additives that are harmful to the human body to food. These food additives will cause potential harm to human health if consumed for a long time. Therefore, food safety issues must be paid great attention to, and relevant departments should strengthen supervision to ensure food quality, safety and reliability.
Fourth, the operation of real enterprises is full of difficulties.
After the pandemic, many brick-and-mortar businesses thought they would be able to return to normal soon, but this was not the case. Many brick-and-mortar businesses face operational difficulties. On the one hand, consumer demand shrinks due to reduced incomes or increased unemployment among consumers; On the other hand, due to the change in people's consumption concept, more and more people tend to shop online, resulting in a decline in sales performance in physical stores.
At the same time, the rise in raw material costs has led to rising operating costs of entity enterprises, and in order to maintain market share, they dare not easily increase the price of goods, resulting in the profit margins of entity enterprises being squeezed. These factors have made real enterprises face increasing operating pressure.
In general, the current mainland economy is facing a series of challenges and problems.