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On November 4, a netizen posted that after paying social security in Shenzhen for 20 years and just retiring, their monthly pension is only 1,989 yuan.
On October 22, the CSI 300 index closed down 1.84%, falling about 20% from its June high and entering a technical bear market; according to Bloomberg, the STAR 50 and ChiNext indices have both fallen about 40% in the second half of the year, and analysts believe the national team may need to buy more and for longer.
According to a report by Yicai on October 22, from January to September 2026, nationwide urban and rural residents' household electricity consumption was 123.46 billion kilowatt-hours, down 0.3% year-on-year — the first decline for the same period in nearly ten years.
A blogger posted a video of interviews at a night market. The stall owners’ fields of study included environmental monitoring, auto repair, finance, preschool education, and garment patternmaking. Netizens commented that the promise of education changing one’s fate had fallen flat.
A netizen living in Shanghai shared a bay-window bed in a partitioned rental room, with a monthly rent of 500 yuan and a 2-yuan fee per use of the bathroom; in the same room, the large bed rents for 2,300 yuan a month and the small bed for 300 yuan, sparking heated discussion among netizens.
In the video, multiple netizens and audio recordings reflect the severe economic pressures they currently face, including middle-aged unemployment, heavy debts, mortgages they can no longer sustain, and factory closures.
On October 20, a netizen posted a video sharing the plight of a sharp drop in income, with his monthly salary falling from 4,800 yuan in 2021 to 2,800 yuan now. He mocked himself for having become a joke, and at the end of the video his eyes filled with tears. Many in the comments section said they were unemployed or had been owed wages for months.
On October 17, the Zhengzhou government reported a tragic incident in which an entire family died together because they could no longer get by in life.
According to a Voice of Hope report, on October 15, 2026, in a certain place in Yunnan, the owner of a fruit stall mounted on a small truck, unable to bear the pressure of life due to poor financial circumstances, dumped an entire truckload of fruit onto the road and ran it over with his truck to destroy it. The incident reflects the despair and survival plight of ordinary people at the bottom of society under the current severe economic situation.
On October 14, a netizen in Guangdong posted a video pouring out the last bit of rice left in the rice jar, captioned with the question "Should I buy rice first, or pay social insurance first?" Netizens in the comments section hotly debated the pressure of making a living.
On October 14, a Douyin blogger posted a video showing a strivers' hostel in Shenzhen that charges 14 yuan per night and has 8 beds. Most of the guests are college graduates looking for work; some have stayed for months, and late at night some guests are still out working and have not returned.
On October 14, a middle-aged netizen who was about to lose his job for the second time posted a video saying he was unemployed, in debt, and facing a marital crisis, saying “It’s too hard, I can barely hold on.” Netizens left comments sharing similar situations and encouraging him.
On October 12, a netizen posted a social insurance payment bill showing a payment of 2,785.43 yuan in social insurance fees to the Shenzhen Municipal Tax Bureau via Alipay's Huabei, and said it could be paid in installments; the netizen also found that records of paying social insurance via Huabei in Shenzhen, Guangxi, Jingdezhen and other places had existed since 2022.
On October 11, a Douyin blogger posted an animation in which a mole gets beaten in a whack-a-mole machine to earn money and support its family, with the caption "the pillar of the family, the offcut of society." The video received more than 170,000 likes and over 60,000 shares, and netizens in the comments section left messages mocking themselves.
On October 2, hairy crab markets in various regions saw severe unsold inventory and a full-blown collapse, with buyers one after another halting purchases. Prices fell from their highs and kept sliding, reflecting people tightening their belts and trading down in consumption.