'Lying flat' movement in China

... references to it removed from social media. It's romanized as 'tang ping.'

It started with a social media post that read in part,

'I have spent most of the [two years without a steady job] enjoying myself and I find nothing wrong with it. Expectations and stress typically came from the traditional ideas of elder family members. The constant feed of celebrity news about the latest romances and pregnancies to the masses was akin to imposing a way of thinking on them. Since this land never really existed to exalt the tide of human subjectivity that I can create my own to myself. Lying flat is my wise man's movement. Only lying flat can we be human measure anything [sic from not the best source because I couldn't find the original blog post].'

Over time the term has become a buzzword on the Chinese internet and has become popular among the youth there.

Chinese state media has published criticisms of the idea as irresponsible.

Chinese youth reportedly not only have low wages as in all countries but also have to support four parents and however many children they have. Many work 9am to 9pm six days a week. 'So why would they want more children?' wrote someone on social media before their comment was deleted.

Some say, though, that Chinese should have babies not for themselves but for their country in order to realize the Chinese dream. This is countered by others who raise the point that having a child is a basic human right.

Analysts have said that it's not that Chinese want to lie flat because they are lazy, but rather because they have lost hope in the future. Especially the young generations.