Vietnam's '8X Generation': Trading Wealth for Lost Time

The '8X Generation' in Vietnam, born in the 1980s, finds themselves in a paradox: while benefiting from economic growth, they are sacrificing time with their families. After years of hard work, many have managed to buy apartments, only to invite their aging parents to live with them and provide elder care. Their daily routine is a rush to drop children off at kindergarten in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon. During the day, parents are home alone, children are at school, and the couple works tirelessly to pay off bank loans and support the family. A man in his 40s resonated with a widely shared social media post that encapsulates the lives of many in his generation: "We earn money to buy houses for parents, but they spend their days within four walls. We earn money to send children to school from morning till afternoon. We earn money to hire caregivers when parents are sick." This generation was born during the nascent stages of economic development and grew up alongside profound economic changes. Their parents dedicated their lives to their children's education, believing they would achieve a more prosperous life. Indeed, they now live in high-rise buildings instead of houses with tiled roofs, enjoy air conditioning instead of paper fans, and drive cars instead of bicycles. Their overall income is generally higher than that of the previous generation. However, the feeling of abundance has not necessarily increased. The cost of modern life is not just monetary but also measured in time. In the past, three generations often lived together in small houses, with grandparents looking after grandchildren while parents worked. Evenings were filled with family dinners and children playing in the yard. Today, while living spaces are larger, the emotional distance between family members seems to have widened. Grandparents live in well-equipped apartments but have few people to talk to. Children learn many skills but lack afternoons spent playing with relatives. Adults work from morning to night, and on weekends, they rush to finish unfinished tasks, citing exhaustion from "striving for the family." A key issue is that society is increasingly designed around the principle that services can be purchased with money, while time spent together cannot be bought back. Perhaps this is why many in the 8X and even 9X generations are talking more about "balance." It's not because they are lazy, but because they realize that earning a few extra million dong from an evening job might not be worth as much as a family dinner where everyone is present. Source: VnExpress