Chinese sales agent Winnie Zeng has taken an unusual step to protect herself from an uncertain future: She is now sharing a rented bed space with a stranger to save costs.Frustrated by stagnant wages and worried about losing her job, the 25-year-old from the central city of Wuhan recently invited another woman to move into her bedroom, cutting her monthly rent by 450 yuan ($66) and helping her keep about three-quarters of her 4,000 yuan monthly income.What once seemed unthinkable for unrelated adults to share the same room or even the same bed to save money is now becoming emblematic of the economic pressures faced by many young Chinese. “It’s a matter of survival,” said Zeng, who spent long periods of time on social media livestreams showcasing the consumer products her company sells. “If you don’t have money, once you stop working, your ability to withstand risks is very weak.“In late June, the hashtag “It’s hard to sleep in the same bed” was viewed more than 14 million times on China’s X-like platform Weibo, while related content was viewed nearly 40 million times on TikTok’s sister app Douyin.A search for “share a bed” on the Instagram-like Xiaohongshu, which advertises her room, returns more than 37,000 posts, including ones looking for roommates willing to share a bedroom (and sometimes even the same bed).While the practice remains a rarity among China’s estimated 260 million renters, its rise reveals a true picture of an economy where consumers remain wary and the jobs of many young workers are increasingly insecure.“This reflects a growing reality that a segment of young people lack a sense of urban belonging, stable long-term employment and clear income prospects,” said Mingwei Liu, director of the Center for Global Work and Employment at Rutgers University.Data this month showed economic growth slowing to its weakest level in more than three years, with strong exports and industrial output overshadowed by stagnant consumption.Morgan Pan, a 39-year-old Beijing resident who earns 30,000 to 40,000 yuan a year, currently makes less than half of what he makes from his job at an artificial intelligence startup that is currently in bankruptcy proceedings. He recently started sharing his bedroom to lower his rent and utility bills to about $1,200 a month. His roommate was in debt and in financial trouble after a failed restaurant venture. Pan said there was “nothing heartwarming” about his predicament, just “the stress of life.”“After returning to Wuhan, Zeng lived a frugal lifestyle, cooking at home and giving up expensive clothes to build a financial buffer. The online fascination with co-sleeping doesn’t faze her, and she said she would probably continue doing it even if she made more money. “The wages are low, the cost of living is high, and you have to make some compromises,” Zeng said. “When people say society has come to this, it’s the absolute truth.“(Reuters)
