Middle-class Chinese, Americans differ in plans for a tough 2023 as some dump property while others cut holidays
- The economies of China and the US have long gone hand in hand, but now, middle-class Chinese are less likely to see their American peers as economic role models
- US middle-class are seen to have survived multiple recessions over the past 90 years, while some in China’s middle-income bracket fear an upcoming brush with poverty
Middle-class families in China and the United States are tightening their belts heading into 2023, weighed down by the economic troubles of the previous year which were caused by the wide-reaching coronavirus as well as fallout from the war in Ukraine.
In China, media company director Emily Hong is staring down a bottomless hole. The 30-year-old, who lives in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen a stone’s throw from Hong Kong, still needs to make her mortgage payments despite seeing her salary fall twice since late 2021. The mother of two has asked friends for loans, was forced to sell one of her two flats in 2021 for less than market value, and now lives with her parents.
“To make matters worse, I think the financial situation in the next few years will be worse than [in 2022],” Hong said after making drastic cuts to her personal budget.
On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, in Gresham, a suburban city in the Pacific northwest state of Oregon, American Gabe Franklin, his wife and their five children are also eyeing a tighter 2023 following high petrol and grocery prices last year.
I guess I would say maybe we’d go out to eat less, maybe we’d not spend as much on birthdays
Christmas expenses were cut and holiday spending will also be scaled back, but for the Franklin’s, they are taking it all in their stride.
“If it’s a recession, things might get a little tighter, but not like I’d have to take a second job,” said 45-year-old Gabe, a teacher of 19 years at a private Christian school.
