The Hidden Struggles of ‘Full-Time Children’ in China: A Computational Analysis of Online Discourse of Highly Educated NEETs

Recent media reports highlight the phenomenon of young people becoming ‘full-time children’—individuals who are jobless, out of education or training, and often financially dependent on their parents. Academically termed NEETs (Not in Education, Employment, or Training), this group is expected to shrink due to educational expansion, which provides youth with enhanced opportunities for employment. However, China has witnessed a rise in college-educated NEETs (‘new NEETs’), a group largely overlooked in earlier studies focusing on lower-educated NEETs. Since new NEETs are neither studying nor employed, traditional methods of locating them through schools or labour markets are ineffective.

This study examines the experiences, aspirations, and perceptions of new NEETs by analyzing their discussions on a popular Chinese forum. The dataset comprises over 50,000 posts and 1 million replies from seven NEET-related discussion groups (2020–2024). Using the large language model for topic modeling, this study identified eight main topics: employment pressure and job search challenges, career planning and transition, academic pressure and studying abroad, workplace stress and challenges, family and life stress, social and emotional struggles, psychological stress and personal growth, and health and self-management. Sentiment analysis reveals over 75% of discussions were negative. Employment pressure and job search challenges have been a prominent theme and emerged as the most discussed topic in 2024. In contrast, academic pressure, a major theme in 2020, declined sharply after 2022 and became one of the least-discussed topics by 2024. Psychological stress, though less frequently discussed, exhibited the highest proportion of negative sentiment.

This study contributes to the literature by shedding light on the under-researched phenomenon of highly educated NEETs, revealing their unique challenges and emotional struggles. It also demonstrates the value of online forum data and computational methods for studying hard-to-reach populations, advancing understanding of youth unemployment and mental well-being in the digital age.