Poor second generation

贫二代 (pín èr dài): poor second generation

A “rich person” holds his child aloft next to a tiny “poor person.” Both sit on the bench of “society's resources. (artist unknown)”

For the poor second generation, parents are more of a burden than an asset. For the rich second generation, the opposite is true. (artist unknown)

Before China’s reform and opening up, communism had substantially leveled the playing field, placing most people on more or less the same economic level. With Deng Xiaoping’s free market reforms, the gap between rich and poor began to widen. The children of those who prospered during the reform and opening up period are call the “rich second generation,” while the children of those who did not prosper are the “poor second generation.”

Commentators complain that institutional barriers, such as the high cost of education and the importance of connections, hinder economic mobility.

See also governing second generation and rich second generation.