All statements in this article are based on reliable information, and the sources are detailed at the end of the article
It is now widely believed that rising prices and lower incomes are causing economic anxiety.
However, big data does seem to have this reason, and the tangible and intangible costs of consumption have increased in recent years.
Buying a house, buying a car, raising children, etc., the cost of food, clothing, housing and transportation is undoubtedly getting higher and higher. But in a blink of an eye, my salary has not risen at all.
As a result of making ends meet, people are anxious about the economy. More and more people are crying for poverty.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in fact, the average disposable income of mainland residents has achieved steady growth since 2022, but the gap between urban and rural income still exists.
It is true that the per capita income level of the mainland is rising, but the corresponding price level and some related liabilities and debts are still growing.
The words "lack of money" are still the resonance of most people's hearts now.
So, what changes will happen to society due to lack of money? According to relevant sources, due to lack of money, five obvious changes have taken place in society.
First, changes in consumption structure
There is no doubt that the lack of money will have a direct impact on the standard of living, especially in the strength and breadth of consumption.
It is true that the current consumption structure has quietly changed, the previous consumption structure is more reflected in the practicality of eating and wearing, and now people are more in pursuit of experience and service, manifested in tourism, fitness, entertainment, health and so on.
And now it is not difficult to feel that the crowd is no longer so enthusiastic about luxury goods and some items of collectible value.
People are beginning to pursue a new term more and more - cost performance.
In many cases, even the majority of consumers say that consumption downgrading is really "fragrant".
The so-called consumption downgrade means that consumers only choose to buy items that they just need daily and have a strong practical nature.
No longer pursue superficial fame, but pay more attention to choosing a name that suits one's economic ability.
It is true that in the past, people may have been more inclined to pursue brand-name goods and luxury goods, but now more and more people are beginning to pay attention to their actual experience and service.
Some netizens said that they changed their diet because of "lack of money".
In the past, I used to eat out twice for three days, either hot pot or barbecue, and coffee and milk tea even became "life-sustaining water".
didn't talk about burning money, but let his body fall seriously ill.
But after the "lack of money", he said that he cooked at home honestly, and now he has become the "darling" of the uncle and aunt in the vegetable market every day, and he will reasonably match his diet every day, and his healthy body has returned.
The downgrading of consumption caused by "lack of money" is also reflected in the mode of travel, and there will be peak congestion during holidays or the Spring Festival.
More travellers are saying they prefer to travel by public transport, and many commuters are saying they don't commute by car.
Parking congestion, long commuting time, short-distance commuting also choose to take public transportation or choose green and low-carbon travel.
2. Changes in the concept of education
In today's context, everyone is advocating consumption downgrade, but in the field of education, we need to ponder a question, can consumption downgrade really drive investment downgrade in education?
In this regard, Ms. Wang, a parent of a primary school, said that many other parents in her class will sign up for interest classes for their children in their spare time.
Some are newspaper pianos, some are newspaper dances, some are newspaper programming and so on. Basically, on weekends, all kinds of interest classes are full.
In fact, the reason why parents focus on interest classes is nothing more than that they hope that their children can cultivate certain creativity and aesthetic ability through interest classes.
Or some parents want to make their children's thinking more agile by learning programming and robotics.
However, in the past few years, education and training interest classes have become a powerful tool for parents to compare with each other.
Ms. Wang said that she now respects her children's wishes more, and sometimes her children are reluctant to go to interest classes, so she takes her children outdoors to do some parent-child sports to breathe the natural air.
In fact, education is also a more important part of life, but it does not represent the whole of life.
Especially in today's environment, learning is a very important thing, but on the road of life, learning is only a part.
All roads lead to Rome, and if you choose any road and stick to it, you may be able to achieve good success.
Now, some parents are also actively making good use of the free educational resources around them, such as community book bars, street libraries, online educational resources, and so on.
These free educational resources are becoming the mainstream of a new type of education.
3. Changes in the concept of employment
After the epidemic passed, the structural form of the economy is also constantly changing and developing, and emerging professions are undoubtedly very attractive for young people, such as e-commerce, self-media, etc.
The organizational forms, employment forms and job search channels of occupations are gradually diversified.
The new technological revolution represented by big data, robotics, and artificial intelligence has brought great changes to the labor market.
According to the relevant survey in 2024, the hot and popular are artificial intelligence, traditional Chinese medicine culture, new energy and service industries.
The field of artificial intelligence and some medical fields are not something that ordinary people can directly get started with if they want to touch it, which requires professional ability and academic foundation.
In the past, many parents and friends preferred to let their children seek stability, and the public examination has become an iron rice bowl sought after by everyone.
It is true that everyone will seek stability in times of economic downturn, but the so-called iron rice bowl is also very difficult to test.
Nowadays, young people in the emerging era are also inclined to be flexible and self-employed, flexible and even start their own businesses.
It is precisely because of the "lack of money" that this uncertainty gives young people more courage to take risks, but there are still people who yearn for stability.
More and more college students are pursuing diversified career development and paying more attention to work-life balance.
Despite the "lack of money", he still attaches more importance to the company of his family and the diversity of his spare time.
Fourth, changes in the structure of financial management
Xiao Liu, who works in other places, thinks that his income is not high, and he can't save money at all when he works in other places.
In fact, financial management does not mean that you must have a high income to achieve it, financial management is not the same as the growth of wealth, financial management is more about the planning of your own wealth.
In a nutshell, it's about developing control over your wealth.
Money is an absolutely important role in our social life, and we are actually organizing our lives when we manage our finances.
Nowadays, people have deeply felt the truth that money is not enough to spend, but they are still awake to organize their assets through certain ways and methods.
If you want to have balances and deposits, you will inevitably be able to avoid "opening up sources and reducing expenditures".
Using effective assets where they are useful, where they are useful, is the right way for people to use money today. It's not about swishing to get by.
Many families will open multiple ledgers, for example, they will open a family ledger to record their expenses.
After starting a family, bookkeeping is especially important, because you don't know how much you have earned, how much you have spent, and you don't know how much your lover and children have spent, these are all things that need to be recorded.
Ms. Zhai, a housewife, said that she keeps a record of her daily expenses every day, from real estate to the purchase of a car and a house.
As small as firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea, she will make a clear record of some odd expenses, as long as it is expenditure or income, she will remember every one clearly.
Ms. Liu shared that after doing this, she has a clearer understanding of her wealth positioning, and understands where she spends the most and where she spends money unnecessarily, all at a glance.
Although there are still people who are moonlight and may even be starlight, the salary is still not enough to spend, and Huabei's credit cards are all maxed out, and those who should be in debt are still in debt.
But in fact, as long as you find the right way to plan and review, and slowly find the reason, the more "lack of money", the more you will "spend money".
Fifth, the change of the concept of marriage and love
At the beginning, the traditional concept of marriage and love in our society was the matchmaker's appointment with the parents, and later it became free love.
But now people who are short of money can't even afford to fall in love! Why?
A young man said that he was 35 years old, but he was still single, and it was understood that he usually lived alone.
The daily life is also very simple, there are no bad hobbies, there is a legitimate job, and the appearance is okay, but I just don't look for a girlfriend.
In the face of the family's urging to marry, the young man said that he was not in a hurry, it was good to be single, and if he lacked companionship, he would have a pet!
As early as 2021, the topic of "more than 200 million people single in China" once rushed to the hot search on Weibo.
In 2024, China's singles data is still high. It's amazing to say: the single society has really arrived! It may even last a long time.
Especially in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, the number of single people living alone has exceeded one million.
The gender imbalance of the population is one thing, but more single young people say that the cost of falling in love is really getting higher and higher, and they can't afford to fall in love at all.
The trend of marketization, materialization and commodification of marriage is becoming more and more obvious.
In the market of marriage, it is more difficult for the side of the man to belong, the expectations of society are higher for them, and with it, the pressure on them is greater.
Preparing for marriage, housing, cars and bride price have become a source of stress for contemporary young people to find it difficult to marry and love.
In some urban blind date corners, most women focus mainly on material things.
For example, whether the man has a hukou in the city, whether he has a house, whether he has a car, what is the man's annual income, etc.
For young people in today's society, it's really a lie to say that there is no pressure, they are very stressed.
The economic factor of marriage and love is very important, falling in love is a matter for two young people, but marriage is a matter for two families.
The sentence "thousands of purples, thousands of reds, and one green" slipped out of the bride price money that the man wants to pay for marrying his daughter-in-law in some places, and how many lovers are scattered because the bride price between the two parties cannot be agreed.
epilogue
Making money is going to get harder and harder, and it can be said that making money is not hard.
Therefore, the difficulty of making money has also led to some changes in the thinking and behavior of some people in society.
In social life, these changes affect us more or less imperceptibly.
Even so, we must not only see the negative side, but embrace the change with a positive and optimistic attitude.
Self-discipline, responsible for your own work, and responsible for your own life. Try to make your life as good as possible.
Find opportunities in problems, find a way out in analyzing problems, and hone and grow in solving problems.
Resources:
Uncle Cat makes a comeback 2024-05-01"Because of lack of money, 5 obvious changes have taken place in society, have you noticed? 》
Non-obsessive Finance 2024-01-01"Because of lack of money, there are more and more abnormal phenomena, and now there are "5 strange phenomena", what's going on? 》