Scratch card games, an outlet for unemployed Chinese youth

The young chinese have difficulties earning a living and live in anguish over the increase in unemployment or the pressure in their jobs and many seek to escape with the games scratch cards that give them hope of becoming rich.

Scratch off cards have become so popular that even “influencers” joined this trend.

Chen Ying, a 26-year-old girl, spent 100,000 yuan (12,600 euros) in this game of chance and on her profile on the social network Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, she scratches the cards live to entertain her followers.

But, the young woman does not play to win, but rather bets to increase her number of subscribers. In six months she went from a few hundred followers to 45,000.

Sales of lottery games reached 274 billion yuan (34 billion euros) in the first half of 2023 in China, up 50% year-on-year, which analysts attribute to the weak economic situation.

“It is because it is not easy to earn money now”, says Chen Ying.

“People with a college degree don’t easily find a job that suits them. This drives them to want to get rich suddenly”Add.

The indicators of the last few months in China do not prompt optimism, as the economy lacks dynamism and now faces the risk of deflation.

In this context, China announced this week that it is suspending the publication of unemployment figures for the group between 16 and 24 years of age, after this indicator set a record in June (21.3%).

A third of Chen Ying’s channel subscribers are under 23 years old and most are students.

“In the subconscious of people there is the idea that it is increasingly difficult to get rich thanks to work,” Huang Zhenxing, a professor at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, recently told the Chinese media Caijing.

the chinese are “more inclined to try their hand at scratch card games to see if they can get rich overnight”he stressed.

Subscribers to Chen Ying’s Douyin profile follow her for the emotions they feel when she scratches the cards.

“I try to gain popularity” and “try to get more people to know me and my brand”says.

an ephemeral pleasure

Many others on social media try to profit from the frenzy surrounding scratch card games.

On Douyin, videos tagged with the hashtag #Guaguale (named after a famous scratch card brand) have garnered more than 6.4 billion views.

Curtis Cheng, 25, said he is playing more and more. And he is not the only one: at noon and at night, the lottery shop near his house is full of young people.

“I like this feeling of trying my luck”he declared. “If you don’t win, it’s not serious. It’s a way to spice up life.” And also, he adds, that he seeks to escape the routine.

“Young people want a lucky break to improve their situation”he added.

Employed in the IT sector, Erika Cui, 25, explains that the scratch card game helps her forget her worries.

“The economy is not in a very good situation. In addition, the pressure at work and in everyday life is very strong. The mental health of many people is worrisome”he declared.

“When you play, you forget about your life. This ephemeral little pleasure is more important than winning or not.”he claimed.

For Erika Cui, the popularity of lottery games also comes from the will of many young people to take things more calmly in the face of work stress, studies and urban life, because “Who knows, maybe one can win the grand prize!”

Source: AFP