"Empty nest youth" — Phrase of the Week
There are a growing number of sole-dwellers in China
Our phrase of the week is: “empty nest youth” (空巢青年 kōng cháo qīng nián)
Context
In early January, a new app called Are You Dead? (死了么) became an overnight sensation in China.
The app topped Apple’s App Store paid downloads chart for several consecutive days from January 10.
It has one simple function: Users enter their name and the email address of an emergency contact. Then they “check-in” (签到) daily by clicking a large green button on screen inside the app. If they miss two consecutive check-ins, the app automatically sends an alert email to their emergency contact.
Are You Dead? has struck a nerve with many young people in China. In an interview, one of the cofounders explains their target demographic:
“Our target users are primarily women over 25 who live on their own in first and second-tier cities.
We chose this group because the “empty nest youth“ phenomenon is now very prominent—more and more young people who moved to big cities for work are living alone”
我们的用户定位主要是一二线城市25岁以上的独居女性。会选这个群体，是因为现在空巢青年的现象很突出，就是在大城市打拼、独居的青年越来越多。
And with that, we have our Sinica Phrase of the Week.
What it means
“Empty nest youth” (空巢青年 kōng cháo qīng nián) is an internet buzzword.
It describes people in their 20s, who have moved far from their hometowns and families, are living independently in big cities, usually in rented accommodation, who are isolated, and have limited emotional support.
Breaking the phrase down into its two constituent parts, it translates as: “empty nest” (空巢), “youth” (青年).
The phrase borrows from the common expression, “empty nest elderly” (空巢老人), who are older people whose children have left home, and now live alone.
“Empty nest youth” first appeared in 2016, in the promotional materials for the Hong Kong horror film Delusion (妄想症). Although it was a niche film, the marketing campaign, and especially the phrase “empty nest youth” resonated with a much wider audience, mirroring “empty nest elderly” but with a tone of self-mockery.
The phrase continued to be popular long after Delusion had left the big screen.
Part of the reason the phrase caught on is the numbers of solo-dwellers in China are increasing. In 2013, 14.6% of Chinese households were single-person. By 2017, over 58 million people lived alone. By 2018, that figure had jumped to 77 million adults living solo, with nearly 20 million aged 20-39.
Big cities offer more job opportunities and better salaries, so young people leave home to pursue better prospects. But for most “empty nest youth,” the city can be a lonely place.
Which is exactly what the Are You Dead? app has tapped into.
Andrew Methven is the author of RealTime Mandarin, a resource which helps you bridge the gap to real-world fluency in Mandarin, stay informed about China, and communicate with confidence—all through weekly immersion in real news. Subscribe for free here.
