Living Alone In Strange Land

Along with the process of urbanization and modernization,more and more young people choose to leave their hometown and stay in big cities singly and alone.Data show that the amount of 20-year-old to 39-year-old young people living alone in current China is close to 20 million,and "empty nest youth" has gradually become a heated topic in society.However,recent media reports on "empty nest youth" mostly stay in a top-to-bottom review,which enlarge the social problems caused by living solo and ignore the objective and true life of the group.Therefore,it is necessary to give a comprehensive and systematic attention to "empty nest youth" group through the professional perspective of sociology.What is the social background of "empty nest youth" in modern society?Does the wave of high-speed social change leave an impact on their social network and family relationship?How to systematically describe their everyday life and basic necessities?This paper studies the "empty nest youth" group through the perspective of social change with the theories on modernity and individualism,social network,family structure and intergenerational relationship as well as everyday life.After defining basic concepts,this study first analyzes the causes of the "empty nest youth".Modem metropolises provide an increasingly complete infrastructure for them.Besides,with the expansion of the employment radius,young people choose to stay in big cities to pursue upward mobility and development opportunities,which means that the structural and institutional forces behind the phenomenon cannot be ignored.Afterwards,this study illustrates the corresponding changes in social network,family relationship and everyday life of "empty nest youth" under the influence of social change.In terms of social network,influenced by the dual role of network society and workplace intrusion,on the one hand,"empty nest youth" could easily establish weak ties with strangers with the digital media;on the other hand,with the intervention of work in personal life,"empty nest youth" tend to regard the integration of work and life as a natural phenomenon.As to family relationship,intergenerational relationship and interactions between "empty-nest youth" and "empty nest parents" intuitively reflects the change of family relations.Although modern communication tools strengthen the intergenerational relations and lead to more cohesive families,there are still intergenerational barriers in the contents of interaction,such as emotional exchange,economic support and life care.As for everyday life,"empty nest youth" at this stage lives a totally different life compared with the past family or collective form of living.And the lifestyle of "internal oriented" and "external oriented" "empty nest youth" in working day and weekend also shows the great difference."Empty nest youth" group has become the social fact.However,the current institution and social concept has not yet provided the best environment for their life.Based on the practical understanding of structural factors behind "empty nest youth",this study further reflects and explores the problems including the labeling of the group,the change of urban socio-spatial transformation and "single economy".