In the past, there were only empty nest old people, but in the era of mobile Internet, a new social phenomenon appeared-“empty nest youth”, and the new crown epidemic magnified this phenomenon to the extreme.

A lot of people have seen an international loneliness rating table in their circle of friends. From a person visiting a supermarket, a person going to a fast food restaurant, and a person performing an operation, lonely It is divided into ten levels. Now, the loneliness of these people doing things has become the daily life of the empty nest youth.


Empty nest youth

According to statistics, there were 58 million empty nest youths in China in 2017, and it has grown to 77 million in 2018. The Maimai Data Institute conducted a loneliness survey on tens of thousands of people in the workplace, and the results showed that nearly 61.47% of people usually feel lonely. Among the reasons for feeling lonely, “Being away from home” ranked first. Alibaba’s Xianyu also issued a “Xianyu Empty Nest Youth Rental Data”, which analyzed the living conditions of Xianyu’s empty nest youth group. The data shows that 32% of renters are empty nest youth.

These young people who are separated from their parents and relatives, single and live alone are called empty nest youths. They lived far away from their hometowns and lived alone with their families, lacked emotional sustenance, lacked family life, and struggled alone in big cities, but the prosperity of big cities made them appear more lonely.

Going to work alone, eating alone, shopping alone, singing alone, and going to an amusement park alone … Empty nest youths are a group and have also become a kind of life the way. Just like the former “snail dwelling” and “ant clan”, empty nest youths appeared along with the acceleration of social and economic development and urbanization.

Because of uneven economic development, compared with other cities, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other big cities have developed economies, many job opportunities, and good wages. To get a better development opportunity, you can only work away from home. Far from their hometowns and parents, they came to strange cities alone. For the empty nest youths, in addition to their expectations for the future, they also need to face the survival pressure brought about by the prosperity of the city, high rents and high consumption. The young people in the nest have unspeakable loneliness and sadness.

The gap between ideal and reality makes the empty nest youths feel hesitant and helpless. They have also time and time again thought to escape from Beishangguang and return to their hometown to live with their parents , But their infinite vision for the future still allows them to work hard to take root in big cities.

The reason why young people choose to leave their loved ones and come to struggle in a strange big city, in addition to the reasons for the unbalanced social and economic development, they also have very different values ​​from their own Great relationship. Young people are motivated, individual, and have strong self-realization needs. They do not want to lag behind their peers, so they will emulate other young people who are working hard in big cities.


Lonely economy

A large number of empty-nest youths struggle hard in big cities, a strong sense of loneliness requires emotional sustenance, and the needs of daily life also contain With huge business opportunities, the “lone economy” is quietly popular.

Someone on the internet mocks the empty nest youths like this: “Everyone has stared at singles except for love.” Under the ridicule, this sentence reveals the empty nest The huge business opportunities brought by young people: one-person restaurants, mini-KTVs, pet economy, etc., the “lone economy” for single people is getting hotter, creating one huge market after another.

Empty nest youths have many unique needs because of the needs of material and spiritual life. Whether it is forced to choose an “empty nest” or an active single, the biggest feature of this group is living alone. Meal is a necessary life need for everyone, but cooking makes people feel very troublesome, especially when you are alone, think about washing the dishes, it is better to order takeaway. Meituan’s takeaway data shows that more than 60% of single people order food at least 3 times a week.

What if you do n’t want to cook or take food? Going to a restaurant is the best choice. However, it is always embarrassing for the empty nest youth to go to the restaurant alone. On other tables, either classmates or friends, or couples. In this environment, eating alone seems very lonely.

In order to avoid the embarrassment of the empty nest young people when they eat, the “one person eating” restaurant has appeared, with exquisite and beautiful cubicles, built in a noisy environment A semi-enclosed independent space creates an elegant dining environment for the empty nest youths who are willing to go out for dinner. Among them, the rotating small hot pot is even more popular among single groups. Therefore, for the group of empty nest youths, many restaurants have launched single decks and single set meals. The consumption method of eating alone has gradually become a new segment of the catering industry. In the post-epidemic era, this area is more Won the favor of the empty nest youth.

For the empty-nest youths who go out and struggle, in addition to eating, living is also just needed, and for young people who do not have deposits, renting a house is the only choice to solve the accommodation. Now wandering in the major lines The young people in the city are the main component of the empty nest youths, and most of them can only rent together with others, because single apartments are generally rented for more than 10,000 a month, even if they are shared houses, they need to spend two or three thousand yuan per month .

At present, there is still no better choice for the Chinese empty nest youths in terms of housing. However, the popular mini apartment in Japan is undoubtedly very suitable for empty nest Youth residence. Although such a mini apartment is small in size, it has all kitchen, bathroom, balcony and bedroom configurations. In Japan, the occupancy rate of the mini apartment is as high as 99%. With the continuous expansion of the empty nest youth group, it fully meets one person Living and living mini apartments will inevitably be a development direction in the future of housing.

Of course, in addition to meeting the real needs of empty nest youths in terms of food, housing and transportation, they are Emotional needs have also spawned many business opportunities. Relieving loneliness is the main spiritual need of empty nest youths. A service once launched by Haidilao is very suitable for the inner heart of empty nest youths. In Haidilao, if it is a person When you eat, the waiter will put an oversized teddy bear on the seat opposite you, giving you the feeling that someone is accompanied to eat together. Although this method does not really relieve loneliness, it is still affected by many single people. Good reviews.

For many single young people, the companionship of pets can greatly relieve their inner loneliness, so many empty nest young people are willing to raise pets, and do not hesitate As pets pay a lot of money, the “pet economy” has gradually become hot. According to the “2019 White Paper on China’s Pet Industry”: in 2019, the number of urban pet dogs and cats in the country reached 99.15 million, an increase of 7.66 million from 2018; The overall consumption scale of the urban pet consumption market reached 202.4 billion yuan, an increase of 18.5% over 2018.

There are various reasons for raising pets, for empty nest youths , Relieving stress, providing companionship, and comforting loneliness are the main reasons, and people who keep dogs and cats are the most common. In addition to the pet itself, cat food, pet food, pet toys, clothing and medical supplies, etc., need certain Expenditure. Data released by Tmall International shows that in 2019, the turnover of pet categories during Tmall Double 11 increased by nearly 130% year-on-year, of which the turnover of cat snacks increased by nearly 700% year-on-year, and that of dog snacks increased by more than 1400% year-on-year. Because of the satisfaction, happiness, and sense of need that the pet brings to the owner, no matter how much the expenditure is, the pet owner is willing to do so.As the youth group grows, there will be more and more people who keep pets, and consumption of pet accessories will usher in explosive growth.

In addition to alleviating loneliness by raising pets, a variety of entertainment methods have become the main way for empty nest youths to lonely. In daily life, the empty nest youths are keen to interact through the mobile phone and the anchor at the other end of the screen, and are willing to recharge their virtual characters in the game. With the development of the mobile Internet, live entertainment, games, online novels and other entertainment The market scale of the industry still has room for further expansion.

If live broadcast and online games are just the choices of empty nest youths at home, then mini-KTV, self-service photo studio, self-service gym became their inevitable sight when they walked out of the house Consumption scene. Taking mini KTV as an example, these phone booth-like facilities are often set in the corner of the mall, which is covered with curtains and has excellent sound insulation effects, which fully meets the needs of single people singing alone and arranging loneliness.

Loneliness is the normal state of people in big cities. After the epidemic, the group of young people in the empty nest will continue to grow, and the sense of loneliness affects their consumption habits. For businessmen, in the post-epidemic era, under the pressure of increasing competition from traditional business models and the slack and saturation of multiple consumer markets, there are still many industries that can be explored for the “lone economy”, including single apartments and single travel , Independent bookstores, etc. Now, more and more empty nest youths are gathering in the field of lonely economy, and a trillion-level market is gradually taking shape.

(Author Li Guangdou is a brand strategy expert and CCTV brand consultant. This article is excerpted from his latest book “Inverse Growth: Post-Economic Economics”)