Prologue | A Generation Labeled
In recent years, many countries have witnessed similar social changes: young people are delaying home purchases, cutting back on consumption, and no longer actively pursuing marriage or having children.
These behaviors are often labeled as “lying flat” or “lacking ambition.” Yet such moralized interpretations frequently overlook a more fundamental reality: the economic structure itself is changing, and young people are responding in the most rational way possible.
For most of them, these choices are not passive withdrawal, but risk-management strategies grounded in reality. Under multiple pressures — soaring housing prices, stagnant wages, unstable employment, and prolonged inflation — young people are reassessing the balance between “input” and “return,” adjusting their life rhythms and financial decisions accordingly.
Rather than being “unwilling to work hard,” they are unwilling to blindly increase their bets within a system that offers little sense of security. This generation is choosing a more pragmatic and mature approach to avoid being pushed into deep, uncontrollable waters.
When Housing Prices Decouple from Income, Rational Choice Becomes Passive Abandonment
When asset prices rise far faster than wages, homeownership shifts from a milestone achievable through effort into a high-risk decision laden with uncertainty. For many young people, a home no longer represents stability, but a heavy commitment that could bind them to decades of debt. Once employment is disrupted, interest rates rise, or the economy deteriorates, the entire safety net of life can quickly unravel.
In such a structure, choosing not to buy a home is not a refusal to “grow up,” but a deliberate exit from high-leverage risk — a way to preserve flexibility and freedom rather than be trapped by an unmanageable long-term liability.
Case | The Housing Math of a Seoul Office Worker
Lee De-hye, a 26-year-old newcomer in the financial sector in Seoul, calculated that at her current salary, it would take 18 years to save enough for a down payment. “It’s not that I’m lazy,” she said. “The numbers are telling me it doesn’t make sense.” Long-term renting, for her, is a way to control uncontrollable risk.
Case | Taiwan’s “Post-House-Viewing Syndrome”
Data from Yongqing Real Estate Group show that the median total price of pre-sale homes in Taipei has exceeded NT$35 million. Housing prices rose 29.3% over five years, while median disposable household income increased only 4.7%.
After viewing three pre-sale apartments, Taipei engineer Xiao Yu-heng gave up. “My salary grows 3% a year, but housing prices rise 10%,” he said. “The harder I work, the wider the gap becomes.”
Not buying a home is not avoidance; it is refusing to be held hostage by a mortgage. When effort can no longer catch up with prices, withdrawal becomes a rational, calculated decision.
Consumption Downgrading Is Not Frugality, but Lowered Expectations
Consumption naturally contracts when risk perception rises. This is not driven by declining desire, but by rational responses to uncertainty. As wage growth stalls, job stability weakens, and living costs fluctuate, young people shift spending from “wants” to “needs,” postponing discretionary purchases and preserving cash as a buffer against future uncertainty.
Under such conditions, activities once considered routine — travel, electronics upgrades, dining and entertainment — are reclassified as “non-essential.” This is not laziness, but risk management: when income and future security are uncertain, controlling spending becomes the only variable individuals can truly manage.
Over time, this behavior reflects not only personal financial strategy but also broader structural impacts on generational confidence. When institutional and market returns fail to match living costs, a “low-desire lifestyle” becomes rational adaptation rather than passive resignation.
Case | Japan’s “Low Desire” Is Environmental, Not Personal
Young people in Japan prefer small, high-certainty expenditures, avoiding debt and major purchases. They spend on food, commuting, and basic living needs rather than cars, luxury brands, or large entertainment expenses. Data show that over 53% of Japanese aged 20–35 have no form of debt, and credit-card usage stands at just 67%, far below the 86.6% among their Chinese counterparts.
Kobayashi Mai, a 28-year-old office worker in Tokyo, said: “I love travel and good food, but most of my income now goes to rent, daily expenses, and savings. Buying a car or upgrading my phone feels too risky. I’d rather keep cash for future uncertainty.”
Consumption has not declined because desire has faded, but because risk tolerance has. Spending behavior reflects confidence in the future, not personal character.
Delayed Marriage and Childbearing Are Economic Calculations
Marriage and childbearing are long-term commitments that require stable economic foundations. Yet many young people today face short-term contracts, flexible employment, and highly volatile living environments. Even those who wish to start families must confront unstable income, rising rents, and escalating child-rearing costs.
Against this backdrop, delaying marriage and childbirth is less an act of indifference than a rational form of risk management. After weighing their capacity against uncertainty, young people choose to first build economic buffers and life stability before making long-term commitments.
This explains why, in cities with high housing prices and living costs, marriage and fertility ages are consistently pushed back, and low-desire lifestyles become part of rational adaptation.
Case | Italy’s “Afraid to Marry” Phenomenon
High unemployment and short-term contracts have led Italian youth to delay family formation. Laura, 32, said: “In Italy, many people don’t marry until their thirties. My boyfriend and I have lived together for two years, but we haven’t considered marriage. Rent is high, living costs are heavy, and our jobs aren’t stable.” She added with a smile, “Cohabitation actually helps us understand each other better and gives us freedom to explore life.”
For most young people today, marriage is no longer the only life arrangement. Stabilizing life and accumulating experience are seen as more realistic — and more rational — than marrying early.
Delay is not indifference; it is a refusal to pass instability on to the next generation.
“Lying Flat” Is, in Fact, an Exit Strategy
When existing systems deliver diminishing returns to effort, individuals naturally adjust their level of investment. When long-term effort no longer guarantees stable income, career progression, or life security, people reduce their commitment to traditional success paths and reallocate time and resources toward areas that are more controllable and provide a sense of safety.
This adjustment is both a rational response to the environment and a reflection of how institutional and market signals shape individual behavior. Effort itself has not failed; the return mechanism has changed.
Case | French Youth and “No Longer Believing Effort Equals Success”
Many young people in France are deliberately reducing working hours and prioritizing quality of life over relentless career advancement. Thirty years ago, about 60% of French people considered work “very important.” Today, that figure has dropped to just 24%.
Leon, 27, works at a startup. His working hours are shorter than those of his peers, but he places greater emphasis on health, hobbies, and social connections. “I’m not avoiding effort,” he said. “I’ve realized that effort no longer brings proportional returns. I used to work overtime constantly, but my salary and promotion barely improved, while life became suffocating.”
Leon’s choice reflects a broader trend: young people are no longer blindly chasing career success, but rationally assessing input and return, investing their energy in areas that offer happiness, growth, and freedom. “Rejecting low-return effort isn’t giving up,” he said. “It’s reclaiming control over my life.”
Reporter’s Reflection
They Haven’t Lain Flat — They’ve Simply Changed How They Stand
Yuan Yin
The choices of the younger generation do not stem from laziness, but from changes in the return structure. When effort no longer guarantees stable careers, income, or lives, minimizing risk and planning cautiously becomes the most rational course of action.
Rather than blaming them for “lacking initiative,” it is worth asking whether society can still offer a path where effort leads to stability — whether the world is still willing to give young people a future worth investing in and striving for.
This is not merely an individual choice; it reflects whether the broader economic, educational, and institutional systems are honoring their commitments to the next generation. When effort and reward become decoupled, choosing to “reduce input and control risk” becomes inevitable — not a surrender of dreams, nor an escape from life.
