Mother in China gives daughter US$1,400 to encourage her to quit 15 hour-a-day job, says health is m

The story of a young white-collar worker in China whose mother persuaded her to give up her gruelling job has struck a chord in mainland China where the employment market is fiercely competitive.

The woman, in her 20s, surnamed Zou, lives in the southwestern Chongqing municipality and her mother recently visited her from their hometown.

In a viral Weibo post on January 10, the mother said that after seeing Zou working so hard from 8am to 11pm every day, with no holidays, she felt compelled to intervene.

Zou said she had desperately wanted to resign for a long time but could not leave because the company owed her 10,000 yuan (US$1,400) in wages.

“I will carry on with this job until I get paid,” Zou wrote on Weibo.

She said she had confided in her mother one evening about how under pressure she felt and why she could not leave the job, and the next morning she found 10,000 yuan had been transferred into her bank account.

“Quit your job as early as possible. Your health is your most precious asset,” Zou’s mother told her.

“Your father and I think your body and mind are what you should value most. Take a break. You can look for jobs later, there’s no need to rush. You do not need to worry about this as long as I am alive.”

Zou said her mother’s words made her cry: “I realised that, no matter how old I am, my mother will always look after me,” she said.

Her post has been viewed 50 million times on Weibo and 28,000 people have shared it on the social media platform.

“My father also comforts me. He says that, as a woman, I don’t need to set high goals for myself. A monthly salary of 2,000 yuan is enough,” one online observer said.

Another person took a different view: “I envy the children from wealthy families. When I complained about my job to my parents, they asked: ‘Who in this society lives easily?’ They also criticised us younger generation for being unable to endure hardship.”

A recent survey asked whether China’s parents would approve of their offspring “lying flat” – a Mandarin phrase that means rejecting society’s pressure to overwork and overachieve.

Of the 6,700 people canvassed, 4,200 said no and only 1,500 said yes, revealing that most parents would have concerns if their children resigned from their jobs.

The jobless rate for the 16-24 age group in China climbed to an all-time high of 21.3 per cent in June last year before the national statistics authority stopped releasing the figures.

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