Xiao Li, a college student born after 1995, used to wash her hair every two days. But as the weather has got colder, she has become lazier. She has bought a mist spray, which allows her to wash her hair less often.
“I would also like to have a product that could save me the trouble of putting on makeup,” she told Orient Today, a publicationaffiliated to Henan Television.
She is not the only young Chinese who spends money because she’s “lazy”. According to a report issued in December by China’s e-commerce platform Taobao on China’s “lazy economy”, Chinese people spent 16 billion yuan on products and services online in 2018. The post-1995 generation was the “laziest” as its consumption increased by 82 percent, compared with that in 2017.
The so-called lazy economy refers to a new type of consumption of products and services which are designed to save time and labor.
According to the report, many people of the post-1995 generation buy high-tech electronic devices such as floor mopping robots and automatic window cleaners, which save the trouble of doing household chores. Meanwhile, take-out food delivery services are also popular among people born after 1995.
Young people are willing to spend money on such products because they want to enjoy hard-earned leisure time after a busy and stressful day at work or school, reported Global Times. Because they need to focus on their studies or jobs, these so-called lazy people tend to use their leisure time more efficiently.
For example, Wei Duo, a 21-year-old college student, is a frequent user of take-out food delivery services.
“I once had a birthday cake delivered to my friend who lives [far from my home]. It cost me 50 yuan but it saved me almost half a day that would have been needed to deliver it myself. My friend was also happy because she got to eat the cake instantly,” Wei told the Global Times.
While the “lazy economy” might be convenient for young people, it might also create problems.
“The ‘lazy economy’ on campus is expressed in things like people buying food or other things without leaving the dormitory. As a result, they stay in their dormitories all day long, playing on computers and smartphones,” a tutor surnamed Wen from Beijing Jiaotong University told Chinanews.
According to Jinan Daily, this situation could lead to young people becoming less sociable and even developing problems of communicating with others. Young people should be alert to it.
“The lazy economy is a choice of lifestyle. While the lazy economy saves time and labor, the saved time should be used to do valuable things,” commented Orient Today.
