28.4% of young Chinese can't make ends meet: survey

A survey showed 28.4 percent of young Chinese spend more than what they earn each month, while 45.4 percent said they still occasionally need financial support from their parents.

The survey, jointly conducted last week by China Youth Daily and Wenjuan.com among 1,571 young people in the 19-35 age group, also found that 26.2 percent of the respondents are barely able to make ends meet. While 45.4 percent spend less than what they earn, only 4.3 percent said their monthly income far exceeds spending.

According to the data, 51.2 percent of respondents hope "a certain proportion of their monthly income would remain" after necessary spending, while 69.4 percent believe young people should plan their consumption and raise wealth management awareness.

Zhang Ye, a native from Hunan province who works at a State-owned enterprise in Beijing, said the rent she pays for her apartment almost accounts for half of her monthly income and little money is left after spending on meals, transport and socializing.

Wang Min (a pseudonym), a middle school teacher based in Tangshan of Hebei province, said children should learn to budget and that part of their spending results from peer pressure.

"Take electronic products for example. Many young people's bills keep rising as they rapidly update their electronic gear," Wang said. "Many of the replaced products might not have broken down; they were just not the 'latest'."