Class and the coronavirus: as China’s wealthy cut back on life’s luxuries, the nation’s poorest are in a fight for survival

Migrant workers and the residents of rural areas are bearing the brunt of the employment crisis in China caused by Covid-19

And while many factories in the nation’s industrial heartland have reopened, a slump in global demand for Chinese goods has dimmed hopes of a swift end to their problems

Reading Time:6 minutes

Published: 7:00am, 15 May 2020Updated: 12:03pm, 21 May 2020

This is the fifth in a series of six stories exploring the causes and consequences of the unemployment crisis China may face following the coronavirus pandemic. This instalment looks at how people are coping in different parts of the country.

Li Ming, a 36-year-old marketing manager for a car company in Beijing, is feeling the pinch for the first time in her life.

When the coronavirus outbreak started, car sales slumped and she was furloughed from her job in February. To make matters worse, her husband, who works for an airline, has also had to take a 40 per cent pay cut.

“Suddenly half of our household income evaporated,” Li said. “I haven’t had a decent sleep for months. We have a mortgage to pay and two children. They are a heavy burden now.”

Li was able to save 12,000 yuan (US$1,700) a month by sacking the family’s domestic helper.

“I explained and told her not to come back after the Lunar New Year holiday, which she was spending with her family in her hometown in Gansu,” she said.

“After a long pause, she agreed. She didn’t say anything else but sent her love to my kids whom she has been with for three years.”

SCMP Series

The grim outlook for Chinese unemployment

[ 5 of 6 ]

Class and the coronavirus: as China’s wealthy cut back on life’s luxuries, the nation’s poorest are in a fight for survival

Migrant workers and the residents of rural areas are bearing the brunt of the employment crisis in China caused by Covid-19 And while many factories in the nation’s industrial heartland have reopened, a slump in global demand for Chinese goods has dimmed hopes of a swift end to their problems

Migrant workers and the residents of rural areas are bearing the brunt of the employment crisis in China caused by Covid-19

And while many factories in the nation’s industrial heartland have reopened, a slump in global demand for Chinese goods has dimmed hopes of a swift end to their problems