A summary of an Bloomberg article in my daily email newsletter.

Deep Dive: Rich Country, Poor People
China is nearing a landmark milestone: membership in the rich world, with per capita income approaching the World Bank’s high-income threshold. Yet more than one-fifth of the population lives below its poverty line.

The haves and have-nots: China’s wealth gap is stark, with the richest 10% holding over two-thirds of national wealth. Their share of income has nearly doubled since 1978, while the bottom half’s has fallen below 14%.

China’s social spending lags its rich peers’ at around 10% of GDP, contributing to weak household spending and meager pensions for the rural elderly. Falling property prices have added to the strain, wiping out trillions of yuan in wealth in a country where about 47% of household assets are in real estate.

A lost generation: A growing subculture of school dropouts and marginalized youth feel left behind, struggling to find steady work and seeing few paths for advancement. They call themselves jingshen xiaohuo (spirited lads) and jingshen xiaomei (spirited girls). Some embrace “lying flat,” rejecting the grind of the 72-hour workweek.