Do you feel that the changes in society have been getting faster and faster in recent times? economy, employment, consumption, real estate...... There are signs that we are in an era of change between the old and the new, full of uncertainties.
Not surprisingly, in the second half of the year and next year, there may be six major changes in society, early understanding, early preparation, in order to calmly cope with various changes in the future. Let's take a look at how these 6 major changes will affect our lives.
Fertility rates continue to decline
In recent years, more and more people have begun to re-examine the topic of fertility. Once upon a time, having children was seen as a matter of course and a must for every family.
But nowadays, with the change of social attitudes and the increase of life pressure, many people are cautious and even resistant to having children.
"Who dares to have a child, can't afford to raise it!" This seems to have become the consensus on the streets. According to statistics, the birth rate of the mainland population has dropped from 12.95 per thousand in 2016 to 6.77 per thousand in 2022, which has fallen below the warning line.
Many young people bluntly said that the high cost of education, medical care and other parenting has made having a child a luxury investment, and those who are not rich or noble dare not ask about it.
In addition to the financial burden, workplace stress also makes many people shy away from having children. In an increasingly competitive workplace, once you leave your job due to childbirth, the chances of re-employment are slim.
Even if you are lucky enough to keep your job, you will inevitably be labeled as "pregnancy is sick" and "low work efficiency after giving birth", and there is no hope for promotion and a bleak future. Faced with such a dilemma, many working women can only endure the pain of parting their love and postpone their birth plans again and again.
In fact, even if the child is born successfully, the road to parenting is still full of thorns. In infancy and toddlerhood, children cry and need to be cared for 24 hours a day, and parents rarely sleep peacefully.
Entering adolescence, problems such as rebellion and early love in children follow one after another, which is a headache. As the saying goes, "raising a child at the age of 100 and worrying about it for 99", when you become a parent, it is difficult to have a relaxed time.
In the face of many parenting hardships, many people can't help but sigh "don't have children, be at ease". If you don't have children, you can escape from 996, lie down and live the life you yearn for; Without children, you can have more personal time to pursue your career dreams; Without children, the financial pressure has plummeted, and you can travel the world and have fun in time......
The employment situation is tightening, but opportunities are still plentiful
Since the beginning of this year, the employment situation has been as stable as a mountain. On the one hand, the economic downturn has made the road to employment bumpy. It is even more difficult for key groups such as college graduates and migrant workers to find employment, and some industries are frequently hit by layoffs.
Although the current employment situation is not optimistic, the long-term employment outlook remains bright. With the implementation of various policies to stabilize growth, the economy is just around the corner, and the demand for employment is bound to rise.
The new economy and new forms of business are in the ascendant and are becoming the main battlefield for attracting employment. The digital economy is in full swing and the modern service industry is vibrant, injecting new momentum into the job market. In these fields, the opportunities for flexible employment and self-employment can be described as overwhelming, and as long as you are willing to work, everyone can get ahead.
Taking the digital economy as an example, the number of people employed in the core industries of the digital economy in mainland China reached 65.2 million in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 11.3%. The Internet platform economy has given rise to a large number of new occupations, such as online car-hailing drivers, food delivery riders, and live-streaming sales, which have created employment for 84 million people.
Although these new forms of employment still face many institutional difficulties, it is undeniable that they have opened up a vast new world for the job market.
The modern service industry also has a lot to offer. With the upgrading of consumption structure and industrial structure, modern service industries such as finance, logistics, and information services are becoming the main force to stimulate employment.
In the United States, for example, the modern service industry provides 84 percent of all jobs and 88 percent of job income. Although the mainland's modern service industry started late, its development speed is astonishing. In the future, the modern service industry will become a reservoir for absorbing employment.
Opportunity always belongs to those who are prepared. In the face of the complex and changeable employment situation, if the majority of job seekers want to seize the opportunity, they must live to the old age, learn from the old, establish the concept of lifelong learning, constantly recharge and store energy, and master new knowledge.
At the same time, when looking for a job, you should also be ambitious and down-to-earth. Some young people have low eyes and low hands, so they are too ambitious and often gnaw at the old. As everyone knows, only by starting from the grassroots level, starting from small things, down-to-earth, and hard work, can we succeed step by step.
The consumption structure is upgraded, and the quality of life can be expected
As the saying goes, money is not everything, but no money is everything. With the increasing increase in the money bags of mainland residents, the concept of consumption is also quietly changing.
In the past, buying and buying seemed to have become the life creed of many people, but now more and more people are beginning to pursue quality life, pay attention to physical and mental health, and rational consumption has gradually become the mainstream.
Nowadays, clothing, food, housing and transportation are no longer satisfied with wearing warm clothes and eating full food, but pay more attention to the comfort of clothing fabrics and the nutritional value of ingredients.
In addition to the increasing demand for the quality of goods and services, consumer demand is also diversified. For example, today's young people are keen to watch dramas, and various cultural and entertainment activities are rich and colorful.
Tourism consumption has changed from sightseeing to in-depth experience, and tourism products with distinct themes such as research tours, rural tours, and red tours are very popular, and people pay more attention to the satisfaction and promotion of spiritual and cultural life.
The upgrading of consumption structure has brought new development opportunities to many industries. Some companies keep up with consumer trends, constantly innovate products and services, enhance brand value, and win the favor of consumers.
For example, Hema Fresh provides consumers with high-quality and fresh ingredients and dining experience through the new retail model of supermarket + catering.
Keep satisfies people's pursuit of a healthy lifestyle through a combination of online and offline sports and fitness services. The success of these enterprises is all due to the accurate grasp and positive response to the trend of consumption upgrading.
Of course, at present, some industries and enterprises do not have a good grasp of consumer demand, the homogeneity of products and services is serious, and the innovation ability is insufficient. The consumption environment needs to be further optimized, and the protection of consumer rights and interests and the construction of a credit system need to be strengthened.
More and more people are not getting married
There is no feast in the world that will not be dispersed. But nowadays, more and more young people don't even want to set up a feast. It is an indisputable fact that the marriage rate has been declining year after year.
According to data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the number of marriage registrations nationwide in 2022 was only 6.83 million, a year-on-year decrease of 8.1%, but also a new low since data was recorded in 1986. What happened to this class of young people?
Some people say that young people nowadays would rather die alone than get married. In a question titled "What are some reasons why you don't want to get married?" In the online voting, the top of the list is actually having its own lifestyle and enjoying a single life.
It seems that in their eyes, marriage is no longer a necessary choice in life, but more like a dispensable side dish.
Of course, there are many people who are more than willing but not enough. The high cost of marriage and childbirth has discouraged many young people. According to statistics, China ranks second in the world in the cost of child rearing, second only to South Korea.
In the face of the cruel involution of education, many people can't help but retreat. is the so-called to have a child or a future, and it seems that there is only one choice between the two.
In addition to personal choices, demographic changes have also contributed to this. With the intensification of aging, the proportion of marriageable population has declined, and the marriage rate has naturally risen. This, combined with the imbalance in the sex ratio, has further exacerbated this trend by the fact that many men are weak.
Real estate continues to be sluggish
In personal choice, the house is also the top priority. However, the current real estate market is embarrassing. The once invincible real estate companies are now mired in the quagmire, and the capital chain is frequently in an emergency.
Sales are cold, inventories are high, and prices of new and second-hand homes are falling. Home buyers are in a wait-and-see mood, developers are not confident, and banks tend to be cautious in lending, as if it is a triangular dilemma.
Some say that real estate has gone from being the ballast stone of the past to a stumbling block. It is related to the money bags of thousands of households, and it also affects the nerves of the entire national economy. Once this pillar industry stalls, the ripple effects it will bring cannot be underestimated.
The demand for steel, home appliances, furniture and other related industries has declined, local fiscal revenues have plummeted, and jobs have been lost...... All kinds of signs show that the downturn in real estate is no longer a temporary cold, but a big test.
There is an organic situation in danger, and only change is desirable. As pointed out at the meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, it is necessary to adapt to the major changes in the relationship between supply and demand in the real estate market.
The pressure on pension payments is increasing
In recent years, with the acceleration of the aging process of the mainland population, the pressure on the issuance of pensions has also increased day by day. Although the government has raised the pension level several times, it is still difficult to completely alleviate the pressure on pension payments.
It is predicted that in the next 5-10 years, about 20 million workers will retire in the mainland every year, and the recipients of pensions will expand rapidly. On the other hand, the number of new insured employees each year is much lower than the increase in retirees, resulting in a rising dependency ratio in the pension insurance system.
According to estimates, according to the current institutional framework, during the period from 2023 to 2035, the gap between income and expenditure of the pension insurance fund will reach 8-10 trillion yuan. This is undoubtedly a huge challenge to the sustainability of the pension insurance system.
In order to cope with the increasing pressure on pension distribution, the government has taken a series of measures in recent years, such as the implementation of national overall planning, the allocation of state-owned capital to enrich the social security fund, etc., to a certain extent, to alleviate the pressure on pension payment. But in the long run, there is a need to further deepen reforms and establish a fairer and more sustainable pension system.
With the continuous extension of life expectancy in ancient times, how to provide for the elderly and rely on them is a major issue facing the whole society.
As pointed out in the report of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the focus of future pension reform should be to optimize the institutional framework, promote national overall planning and reduce the social dependency ratio.
At the same time, it is necessary to improve the multi-level and multi-pillar old-age security system, encourage the development of enterprise annuities and personal pensions, and provide more abundant retirement income for the elderly.
epilogue
The mainland is in a critical period when the main social contradiction is being transformed and economic development has entered a new normal. In the midst of change, there is only forging ahead. In the face of all kinds of changes that may occur in the future, we must not only maintain a clear understanding, but also strengthen our confidence in development.
Accurately grasp the general trend of the times, actively conform to the law of social development, cultivate new opportunities in the crisis, open up a new situation in the changing situation, and constantly create a new situation in the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.