"Money is spent today, and tomorrow’s things will be discussed tomorrow?" For this statement, most of Chinese (79.03%) disapproved, but compared with two years ago, the preference for delayed consumption declined slightly. A few days ago, the "Summary Report on Consumer Financial Literacy Survey in 2019" released by the central bank aroused social concern. There is also another set of data that attracts people’s attention: last year, the per capita holding of credit cards and debit-credit cards in China increased by nearly 20%; In the first quarter of this year, the total outstanding credit of credit cards overdue for half a year reached 79.743 billion yuan, nearly 10 times that of nine years ago.
Some people think that the decline in delayed consumption preference and the sharp increase in outstanding credit of credit cards mean that Chinese doesn’t like saving money and loves spending money.
Experts said that this summary should not be simply made. Compared with other countries, China’s savings rate is still in the forefront. The change of people’s attitude towards saving shows that China’s domestic demand-oriented economic system is gradually being established. However, some people, especially young people, should realize the transformation from "card slave" to "card owner", avoid excessive consumption, and establish correct values and consumption concepts.
With sufficient policy support and a good mentality, young people naturally dare to "buy in buy buy"
"I don’t save money when I have no income, and I don’t deliberately save money after I have income." Lou Yun, 24, has been working for two years, and every month she puts her salary in Alipay. After paying back the money that should have been paid last month, she will buy regular financial management or fund fixed investment for the rest of the money. In her opinion, if you want to increase your money, you can only earn more, not save more.
Nowadays, the number of people who hold similar ideas with Lou Yun is increasing. The "Summary Report on Consumer Financial Literacy Survey in 2019" released by the People’s Bank of China recently shows that when asked about their attitudes towards consumption and savings, although most people (79.03%) hold the view of "not agreeing" or "not agreeing at all" to "spend money today, and talk about things tomorrow", compared with 2017, consumers’ preference for delayed consumption has declined slightly.
Delaying consumption means storing some of your belongings and then arranging for consumption at multiple points in the future. Delaying the decline of consumption preference means that some people no longer save money, but spend it immediately. Relevant statistics also show that the savings rate of China residents reached 37.3% at its peak (in 2008), and has declined in recent years.
What do you think of this phenomenon? Yang Jun, a professor in the Department of Trade at the School of International Business and Economics of the University of International Business and Economics, said that generally speaking, there are two main reasons for delaying consumption: one is to cope with future expenditures and various uncertainties, and the other is to obtain higher financial benefits. At present, the new generation of consumers in China has gradually become the main body of the labor market, with more emphasis on the individual’s current quality of life. At the same time, with the improvement of living standards and the improvement of social security system, the dividend of tax reduction and fee reduction policy is continuously released, the uncertainty of employment, education and health care in the future is reduced, and people’s overall spending power is improved. In addition, the rapid development of modern finance makes it easier for individuals and families to obtain short-term and medium-and long-term funds to cope with all kinds of urgent expenses, and the cost has dropped significantly.
To put it simply, today’s consumers, especially the younger generation, are in a good mood and confident, and naturally dare to "buy in buy buy". Data show that in the first half of this year, the total retail sales of social consumer goods in China reached 19.5 trillion yuan, up 8.4% year-on-year. Among them, young people are becoming the main force of consumption. Ant Financial and Fidelity International released the "2018 China Pension Prospect Survey Report", showing that 18— The average monthly savings of 34-year-old young people is 1339 yuan.
Liu Ye, who is studying in a university in Beijing, has been saving money since primary school and likes to spend money. She said that on the one hand, saving money is for emergencies, on the other hand, it is to satisfy some small wishes, such as buying something that you are usually reluctant to buy to reward yourself. However, when buying some high-priced products, even if she has the ability to pay directly, she will choose to use Internet consumer credit products for installment payment, which is becoming fashionable among young people. "Consumption is impulsive, so control yourself." Liu Ye has set a consumption red line for this purpose — — It can’t exceed 4,000 yuan per month, because "owing too much money will lead to pressure".
“‘ After 95 ’ And ‘ 00 ’ Growing up in the era of affluence and mobile Internet, it is logical to delay the decline of consumption preference when they gradually become the main consumer. " Wang Jun, a member of the Academic Committee of China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said that this phenomenon will increase further in the future as more children grow up.
It should be pointed out that the rising house prices for many years, the improvement of residents’ living conditions, and the increase in rigid expenditures such as pension and medical care are also important reasons for delaying the decline in consumption preferences and reducing the household savings rate in recent years. Wang Jun believes that delaying the decline of consumption preference and the decrease of savings rate are two sides of the same coin, because the pursuit of a better life will inevitably lead to the promotion of immediate consumption power and the decrease of savings rate.
At the same time, he pointed out that compared with developed countries and developing countries, China’s household savings rate has always been in the forefront of the world, and there has been no cliff-like decline. Of course, due to the gap between China and developed countries in terms of the soundness of social security system, the perfection of financial market and the income level of residents, especially the change of residents’ consumption habits will take a long time, so it is necessary to prepare for risk prevention and relevant policy adjustment.
Zhou Xiaochuan, former governor of the People’s Bank of China, believes that the decline in the savings rate has certain benefits, indicating that domestic demand has increased, but we also need to pay attention to the change of the savings rate between generations. Under the background of the development of financial technology, the rapid development of consumer credit will induce the younger generation to spend in advance and borrow money. "This is not only an economic and financial phenomenon, but also a cultural and demographic phenomenon, which may have an important impact."
Will "spend tomorrow’s money and buy today’s things" become a consumption trap?
Among many forms of consumption, it is worthy of attention to swipe credit cards or use online consumer credit products such as Alipay "Flower Blossom" for early consumption and borrowing consumption. This consumption form of "spending tomorrow’s money and buying today’s things" is very common among some young people.
Ren Huan, who is studying for a master’s degree in a university in Beijing, recently made up his mind to shut down an Internet consumer credit product. It turned out that under the induction of this product, he spent up to 45 thousand yuan a month. He said: "It always gives me a credit limit, and when I pay, I use this product by default, which makes me spend money like water."
There are more and more credit cards and internet consumer credit products, which leads to a substantial increase in the amount of outstanding credit and pushes up financial risks. According to the "General Situation of Payment System Operation in the First Quarter of 2019" issued by the central bank, as of the end of the first quarter of this year, the total outstanding credit of credit cards overdue for half a year was 79.743 billion yuan. In 2010, nine years ago, this figure was only 8.804 billion yuan. According to statistics, among the nearly 170 million "post-90s", more than 45 million people have opened "flower beds". The phenomenon of credit card "card slave" and "flower slave" began to appear.
Wang Jun believes that the rapid growth of credit card issuance by commercial banks and the rapid development of financial technology have also led to a sharp rise in multi-head co-debt and related risks of credit consumer loans such as credit cards, Internet-based credit products, consumer finance loans and cash loans, resulting in an increase in the overdue amount of credit cards. Especially under the macro background of increasing economic downward pressure in recent years, the personal financial situation of some credit card holders has changed greatly, while some commercial banks have excessively pursued commercial interests and failed to grasp these changes in time, resulting in more prominent related problems and risks.
The improper marketing methods of some businesses are also adding fuel to the fire. Some advertisements link consumption with status, class, taste, IQ, love, affection and so on, and induce people to over-consume.
Generally speaking, reasonable consumption in advance is conducive to changing the traditional phenomenon that the elders accumulate capital and wealth, and the descendants get something for nothing, and it can also effectively expand market demand and promote economic growth. However, unreasonable consumption in advance may go to the opposite side, which will increase economic pressure for individuals and affect their mental health and life stability; For the country and society, it will induce a destructive hedonism and unrealistic waste culture, cause a social "credit crisis" and increase the possibility of economic crisis. Great Depression in the 1930s, 2007— The "subprime mortgage crisis" in 2008 is a lesson from the past.
So, will this advanced consumption pattern become a "consumption trap" in China? Many experts and interviewees believe that the key to preventing risks lies in cultivating people to develop good and healthy consumption habits.
"In the next 10 years, the total amount of outstanding credit of Chinese residents will increase, but it will remain within a reasonable range." Yang Jun believes that this is because the overall knowledge level of young people is improving and their ability to obtain higher income is increasing; At the same time, the means of risk control in the financial sector will be more advanced.
In Ren Huan’s view, marriage will become the threshold for him to save money. He said that saving money after marriage is not simply for enjoying consumption, but for family illness, pension and other expenses. "This reflects the continuation of Chinese’s traditional home-based culture, and there is a kind of cultural resilience behind it."
Balance the relationship between savings and consumption from the perspective of life cycle
In order to accelerate the transformation of consumption to green, the National Development and Reform Commission and other ten departments issued the Guiding Opinions on Promoting Green Consumption three years ago. The opinion puts forward that we should resolutely resist unhealthy trends such as extravagance and pleasure-seeking, vigorously get rid of bad habits such as ostentation and extravagance, resist excessive consumption, change the wrong concept of "paying for yourself and being rich and frugal", and form a social atmosphere of "saving glory and wasting shame". The opinions also put forward specific measures from the aspects of laws and regulations, standard system, identification certification system, economic policy and financial support.
Nowadays, more young people are conscious of balancing savings and consumption. "I will decide to spend according to a stable income." For the future consumption view, Liu Ye answered with certainty. She said that she would definitely save money after work, and she felt insecure if she didn’t save money, because Chinese often said, "When money is used, she hates less".
However, with the increasing availability of financial services, it is urgent to improve people’s financial literacy. The Summary Report on the Survey of Consumers’ Financial Literacy in 2019 issued by the Central Bank suggests that we should pay attention to the financial literacy of low-income, low-educated, non-employed, old and young groups, carry out appropriate financial education activities in combination with group characteristics, focus on improving consumers’ financial knowledge and skills, and improve consumers’ financial behavior. At the same time, actively respond to the challenges brought by digital technology. For some consumers, digital technology has a lagging effect in promoting financial literacy, so more financial education tools should be developed to adapt to the digital age and demographic changes.
"The cultivation of good financial literacy and consumption concept needs to start with school education and start with dolls. This should be the basic quality that every citizen should have." Wang Jun believes that residents should be guided to establish a sustainable consumption concept, live within their means, consume moderately, and arrange and balance the relationship between savings and consumption from the perspective of the whole life cycle.
Yang Jun believes that for individuals, it is still necessary to advocate the concept of thrift and reasonable arrangement of various consumption expenditures. For large loans, it is necessary to balance the relationship between future income and current loans, and try to keep the current loan amount within the current discounted value of future reasonable income expectations. The government should promote the integration of financial knowledge into the national education system and improve the financial investment literacy of the people; At the same time, improve the financial supervision system, promote the efficiency of the financial sector, and control social and financial risks.
(At the request of the interviewee, fei chang, Zaler Xu, Lou Yun, Liu Ye and Ren Huan mentioned in this article are all pseudonyms. )
Consumer said
"If you have income, you will definitely save money."
Zhang Fei college student female is 23 years old.
I can’t save money at present because there is no extra income; However, it will not be consumed in advance. Even if you use Alipay’s "flower garden" loan or make installment payment, you must ensure that you can pay it back now.
I will definitely save money when I have income in the future. I haven’t thought about how much to save, but I certainly won’t spend money lavishly. For example, if I earn 20,000 yuan a month, I must save at least 10,000 yuan, regardless of the necessary expenses.
What do you save money for? Of course, it is to buy a house, a car, or an emergency. I think saving money is a great source of security, which means stronger risk coping ability and more future choices. Anyway, I dare not be a "moonlight family".
"Consumption is better than saving money"
Xu Lang graduated for one year, unemployed male, 26 years old.
I don’t make money now, and I can’t save money. After making money, you shouldn’t save money at first, so it’s estimated that it’s not enough to spend, but if there is any surplus after spending, won’t the money be saved automatically?
I think consumption is still very important. It is better to spend for your own interests than to save money. What do you save money for? I haven’t thought about it, so I’ll save it first.
I usually use Alipay "Flower Garden", and I can only use it to advance when I have no money. Now my parents help me repay the loan, so I haven’t thought about the credit limit and repayment ability.
(Peng Xunwen, Li Hejun)
