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China's Generation Y
China’s Generation Y (Gen Y) is a generation of approximately 240 million people born between 1980 and 1990. Growing up in modern China, China’s Gen Y has been characterized by its optimism for the future, newfound excitement for consumerism and entrepreneurship and acceptance of its historic role in transforming modern China into an economic superpower. Gen Y teens are also distinguished by their increased access to the Internet, high-tech MP3 players, computers and mobile phones. The book China’s Generation Y (Michael Stanat – 2005) explores the adolescent generation in urban Chinese cities.

Generation Y teens in China often experience a poignant generation gap between them and their elders. Growing up under Mao, Gen Y’s parents experienced famine and political instability. Many lack an education because of the policies set forth under the Cultural Revolution. On the other hand, China’s Generation Y increasingly lives in an environment of tremendous economic growth and social change, high technology, and rigorous education requirements. A clash between tradition and modern influences is noticeable in purchasing habits, career pursuits and daily interaction between child and elders. Furthermore, young adults have been indirectly affected by forced government shutdowns of thousands of Internet cafes each year that prevent the excessive use of the Internet. Young people are impacted by China’s large socioeconomic divide between urban and rural residents and societal problems resulting from modernization. The conflict between Gen Y teenagers and China’s government has also contributed to the idea in the West holding that the communist government will collapse during their lifetimes.

China's One-Child Policy
As single children under China’s One-Child Policy, members of China’s Generation Y have been called Little Emperors (pin yin - xiao huangdi). With outsourcing, Gen Yers have access to greater purchasing powers, and more than previous generations, can buy consumer goods. Many individuals in the generation inherit in a 4-2-1 structure (4 grandparents, two parents and one child), leaving accumulated wealth to one heir. The reasons for parental indulgence of their child stem from the reality that single children in China are the sole perpetuators of the family legacy and face pressure to achieve. Second, China firmly values Confucian filial piety, in which children are expected to attend to their parents as they age. As a result, parents exert pressure on their child to succeed in education so that he or she may take care of them in old age. Increased competition among state-run corporations has impacted the need for parents to rely on their children. The global implications of an entire generation of single children are yet unknown since China’s Generation Y is the first to be affected.

The Future
China’s Generation Y illuminates important questions not only about China’s future but also those of the United States and the global economy. Several factors that may influence the generation are individualism, consumerism, modernization and technology. Commentators have argued that the generation will boast some of the world’s next leaders. However, they have also indicated several of the obstacles that face the generation, including China’s amorphous business and legal system, corruption and the education system’s inability to teach creative thinking in a complex global economy.

Source
Source: Stanat, Michael. China’s Generation Y: Understanding the Future Leaders of the World’s Next Superpower. Paramus: Homa & Sekey, 2005. ISBN 1931907250 China's Generation Y Book Website