“Lying flat” Movement

Don’t you ever want to lie down and neglect all your assigned work? Whether you have a job or are currently in school, many individuals face the dilemma of being ‘unproductive’ or experiencing the debilitating feeling of ‘burnout.’

‘Lying flat,’ or Tang Ping (躺平) in Chinese, is defined as ‘taking a break from relentless work’  (Davidovic, 2022). Due to China’s shrinking labor market, young people work long hours under immense pressure to keep up with the competition. This could lead individuals to experience burnout, reaching a state of physical and emotional exhaustion that prevents them from maintaining the momentum of working hard.

In the digital era, where everyone has internet access and publicly shares their lives, some choose to post about their daily life struggles. The ‘lying flat’ trend stands out from conventional posts, as its philosophical undertones aim for inaction instead of a ‘call to action.’ Many of China’s young and disenchanted workforce felt seen, or so to say, that the ‘lying flat’ trend was relatable to their struggles: Xi Jinping’s promise of the “Chinese dream” is overly romantic, and this “better life” for future generations seems impossible to millions of young people. Those who slave away, sitting in office chairs for hours on end, struggle against the “996” culture in which they feel inclined to participate in - working day and night from 9 am to 9 pm six days a week - although many are determined to move away from toxic work practices, they somehow find themselves replying to work emails in the dead of night. And the catch? They still can’t afford a home and a work-life balance. Despite working this hard, it yields little to no satisfactory results, causing many to lose their motivation, and ‘lie flat’.

However, we should notice all the underlying reasons for this trend. Young people migrating from rural areas to China’s most developed cities - like Beijing or Shanghai - cannot make enough money to buy housing. Compared to children who grew up in cities with English education or additional after-school tutoring lessons, rural young adults simply cannot compete. On the contrary, children from wealthy families are not keen on working hard, as it is said that they’re often not as ‘hungry as the super-achieving kids from poorer families’ （Ji, 2021). Moreover, children who grow up in wealthy families often experience the ‘tiger’ culture, where parents exert extreme pressure on their children and provide extra lessons in school subjects for them to excel in competitive entrance exams. This practice could also lead to ‘burnout’ and eventually tendencies to ‘lie flat’. Young rural migrants who can’t counter the inevitability of more ‘successful’ children getting their dream jobs are vulnerable to spiraling into the ‘lying flat’ trend as well.

Long-term Consequences of ‘lying flat’

When the trend of  ‘lying flat’ persists in the long run, it will continue to negatively affect China’s economic growth. It will slow down China’s economic growth even more, and also contribute to the dwindling birth rate. Many young people refuse to get married because they can barely earn enough money to sustain their own lives, let alone a marriage. And having children and taking care of their in-laws is way out of the plan. The decrease in the birth rate is not only threatening the country’s demographic dividend but also arming China’s social welfare system. Furthermore, the ageing population eventually will lose its access to old-age-care, forcing the country to deal with a largely disproportionate ratio of working-age individuals and non-working-age individuals. 

On the other hand, consider not ‘lying flat’ and continuing the momentum of working at 9-9 jobs. is it really bringing anyone financial prosperities? Or even happiness to say the least? It’s worth wondering if such lifestyles can outweigh their negatives. To say the least, young people who are participating in ‘lying flat’ may not care as much about the country’s economy, because they are simply not participating in it at all. Not choosing to purchase housing, engaging in job opportunities, and also not having children with their partners are the many attempts suggesting that young people simply do not care about the country’s economic development. It is difficult to judge whether ‘lying flat’ is the right thing to do. Reflect on this: would you choose to participate in the ‘lying flat’ trend given current economic circumstances? I’m sure some of you aren’t willing to work 72 hours a week either. 

Work Cited List

Davidovic, I. (2022). ‘Lying flat’: Why some Chinese are putting work second. BBC News. [online] 16 Feb. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60353916.

Ji, S. and He, H. (2021). What is ‘lying flat’, and why are Chinese officials standing up to it? [online] South China Morning Post. Available at: https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3153362/what-lying-flat-and-why-are-chinese-officials-standing-it.