The service of "renting friends" and "renting relatives" to go to the hospital together is becoming more and more popular among young Chinese people - Photo CGTN
Ms. Yang, a 27-year-old blogger in Beijing, China, went to a store to meet her first “customer,” a young man who paid 125 yuan (about $17) per hour to “buy” Ms. Yang’s time.
“He would ask me what I thought from a woman’s perspective. I guess he didn’t have any friends of the opposite sex to talk to, and he also wanted someone to confide in about his girlfriend,” Ms. Yang said of her side job.
A lonely and stressful society
“Young people are getting lonelier. Some are very stressed at work and others are under a lot of pressure from their own families,” Yang said.
The combination of life stress and loneliness has opened up new business opportunities for young people in China, with more and more people renting out their spare time to earn extra money.
Nikkei Asia newspaper commented that it was a near-perfect combination of supply and demand.
On the supply side, China’s sluggish economic recovery, a wave of layoffs and record-high youth unemployment have created a large pool of “idle” workers who have time and a need to earn money but are out of work.
On the demand side, enormous pressure at work and pressure from society have pushed young people to seek new ways to vent their anger and relieve stress.
“If you pay to have someone with you, you can do whatever you want. You don’t have to ‘look around’ like you do when you’re with friends or family,” said Ms. Yang.
Many users have started posting ads about themselves on social media sites out of curiosity, and because some of their predecessors have successfully turned the “rent a friend” service into a side hustle to earn extra income.
Ms. Yang said she has seven clients so far, all under the age of 35. Most of her clients have stressful full-time jobs and some savings.
Ms. Alaia Zhang (22 years old) also emphasized that her customers are just looking for someone to talk to.
“Young people today have a lot of worries, but they don't want to bring that negativity to their friends and family, or simply, they don't feel like they have acquaintances they trust enough to share their worries with,” Ms. Zhang analyzed.
“Everyone is lonely, even me, I am lonely,” Zhang confided. According to her, young people today spend little time and effort forming relationships around them because they are afraid of being hurt.
Hire someone to go to the hospital with you so you won't be alone.
Not only "renting friends" to confide in, the "renting relatives" service also attracts a lot of attention from people in China and is becoming more and more popular.
Unlike “hired friends”, these “hired relatives” need to have a good understanding of the local health care system, they also have to research the client’s condition and medical history in advance, and have to ask the doctor appropriate questions about the client’s condition.
Ms. Cui Pei (38 years old) - a person who specializes in working as a "relative for hire" at Xi'an Hospital - said that the demand for this service has skyrocketed recently.
Cui revealed that “rental relatives” can earn at least 6,000 yuan (over $844) a month. Many people have even come to Cui through the Xiaohongshu platform to “learn the trade,” but she does not accept “apprentices” over 50 because the job is physically tiring.
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