In today's era, succession is no longer a simple act of procreation, it is more intertwined with complex factors such as social structure, economic pressure, and cultural changes. Especially for the young people of the post-90s and post-00s age groups, their attitudes and values towards life are significantly different from those in the past. Many people wonder why in such an environment, these young people's desire to carry on their family lines is so weak.
The discussion on this issue on the Internet is lively and deep. Some netizens pointed out that modern young people are generally faced with the 996 work system, working long hours every day, and not even having time to rest, so how can they talk about passing on the family lineage? In addition, as prices continue to rise, it is difficult for wage growth to keep up with the pace, and money has become a new burden of childcare, which discourages many families. There is also a view that if you already feel difficult to live, why bother to harm the next generation?
In the discussion, there was no shortage of pessimistic voices. Some people say that the tension between men and women, coupled with various interest calculations, makes it extremely difficult to get married, which also directly affects the desire to pass on the family lineage. On the surface, it seems that money and the contradiction between men and women are the main reasons why young people give up on inheritance, but in reality this is not the case. To truly understand this phenomenon, we need to analyze it in more detail.
First, let's explore the post-90s. In most people's minds, the post-90s generation is a generation full of vitality and infinite vision for the future. However, today in 2024, the oldest post-90s generation will be 34 years old, and in a few years, they will enter middle age. It stands to reason that the post-90s generation, who have entered the age of establishment, should get married and have children like their predecessors, and begin to take on the responsibility of supporting their families. But the reality is that many post-90s generations are still unmarried, and even if they are married, they choose to divorce early.
The post-90s generation has obvious differences compared with previous generations. They missed the golden period of the real estate market, catching up with the period of high housing prices and severe bubbles. Secondly, they are in an extremely competitive environment, whether it is in the workplace or in the marriage market, the competition is extremely fierce, causing them to feel tired in life. In addition, the post-90s generation is more open-minded, they are more inclined to pursue a trendy lifestyle than stick to the traditional marriage model, and finally, they are a generation that has witnessed China's urbanization process, and they do not have the strong desire to have a family in rural areas.
As we all know, the core of the traditional marriage system is to have children in order to continue the family lineage. If young people lose interest in succession, then their attitude towards marriage will naturally become cold. It is foreseeable that when the post-80s generation begins to gradually release the fertility potential of the second and third children, it may be difficult to achieve even the first child after the 90s.
Next, let's take a look at the post-00s. As a special group, the post-00s generation is considered to be the most conservative generation among these generations. By conservatism, I don't mean a complete rejection of traditional ideas, but rather a more cautious approach to their personal lives. They calculate the cost of each decision and if it's too high, they give up. Take "getting married and having children" as an example, after learning about the misfortune in the marriages of previous generations, the post-00s will think: Is this kind of marriage really suitable for themselves? The post-00s men may ask themselves, as an ordinary person, I have no chance to inherit the throne, why do I have to bear the mortgage and car loan, to pursue those unrealistic marriages? and the post-00s women may feel that they have grown up in a wealthy family, why should they spend their lives with a poor man?
The former may be reluctant, the latter equally reluctant. This mentality eventually leads them to live a "low desire" appearance, that is, they do not get married, do not buy a house, do not have children, do not take on family responsibilities, and show a conservative attitude towards life. In addition, since the post-00s, the problem of class solidification has become increasingly serious, and the difficulty of changing fate has greatly increased.
The post-90s may be just a harbinger of low desire, while the post-00s are completely immersed in conservatism, what does this mean? The most important thing is that they have lost hope in life and their own lives. The post-60s and post-70s generation initially lived in a poorer environment, but why did most of them get married and have children? Because they are hopeful about the future, there are not too many contradictions, and life is relatively easy. The post-60s and post-70s generations have caught up with the good times of real estate, the cost of marriage is not high, and with the accumulation of work experience, the income has gradually increased, and the mentality is more positive. By the 80s, the situation was very different, they were in the green and yellow stage, and there were hardly any advantages to take advantage of. Even the post-80s have missed the dividends of real estate, and the post-90s and post-00s are one step behind. Therefore, those post-90s and post-00s who were born in poverty are destined to give up everything in the hardships of life, including their own descendants.
I have heard many post-90s sighs that if they are poor all their lives, they don't want their children to be born in this world and suffer. What kind of experience made them think that even the post-60s and post-70s generations did not have? Hope and confidence are more precious than gold and diamonds. Once hope and confidence are lost, it will be a day of real tragedy.
In the subway cars of first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, almost every young person is dull and has lost his youthful vitality. Could it be that the pressure of life is too great? Ordinary people find it difficult to change their fate, and they are destined to be low-level migrant workers and lose their positive attitude. Are there too few channels to break through the class?
Reality is cruel after all, and it has always been that way since ancient times. The rich multiply from generation to generation, while the ordinary people who have read books have all kinds of anxieties, but they are powerless to change. This is the truth of reality.