Author: openjargon

• The first Netflix House venues will open in 2025 at malls in Texas and Pennsylvania.
• Netflix seems to be following Disney's playbook, creating immersive, in-person experiences.
• Could Netflix World be next?

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Just ask Netflix.

The company will unveil its first Netflix House venues in 2025 at two US-based malls: King of Prussia and Galleria Dallas.

"We've launched more than 50 experiences in 25 cities, and Netflix House represents the next generation of our distinctive offerings. The venues will bring our beloved stories to life in new, ever-changing, and unexpected ways," Marian Lee, Netflix's chief marketing officer, said.

If the concept of taking original IP and turning it into an immersive, in-person experience sounds familiar, that's because it is.

That's Disney's formula.

The Walt Disney Company began as a cartoon studio but expanded to theme parks in 1955 with Disneyland in California. It's since launched theme parks worldwide. It also added other experiences, like cruise lines, resorts, and residential real estate communities.

Theme parks are a major money maker for Disney. Its experiences division, which includes theme parks, was Disney's top earner in 2023, bringing in $32 billion in revenue.

Netflix, meanwhile, made about $32 billion in total in 2023.

So it's not surprising that the company, looking for ways to add to its bottom line, sees Disney as a role model. At a 2019 conference, former Disney CEO Reed Hastings said that Netflix admired Disney.

But media and retail analysts told Business Insider that while Netflix is taking a page from Disney's playbook, the end result might look different.

How Netflix can expand beyond streaming

David A. Steinberg, CEO of Zeta Global, called this phenomenon "clicks and bricks," which refers to a consumer's desire to merge online spaces and the real world.

Consumer data collected by Zeta Global found that "the vast majority of transaction research is done on the internet, but the vast majority of transactions are still created in the real world," he said.

It's a recipe that Disney has perfected over decades of operating its theme parks and other experiences. One of the newest additions to its collection is Tiana's Bayou Adventure at Disney World, a ride based on the 2009 film "Princess and the Frog."

While Netflix House will likely attract its subscribers, Resonate MCO Ericka McCoy said the potential for new audiences can't be overlooked. That includes younger generations who are desperate for real-world connections.

"There's a big opportunity for Netflix to make this a really interesting experience that not only captures Netflix watchers but a significant portion of cinema-goers looking for that new thing," she said. "They should be able to capture those audiences that are loyal to concerts."

Netflix could rescue struggling shopping malls

Netflix investing in shopping malls might seem at odds with headlines announcing the "retail apocalypse." However, Steinberg said there's still money to be made in these establishments.

"Malls are certainly having problems in a large component of the country, but it's a very low-cost way of getting large amounts of foot traffic," Steinberg said.

He said that Netflix would likely get more foot traffic in a mall than if they built stand-alone shops.

"Even though numbers might be softer than in the past, these are two of the biggest and most frequented malls in the country," Steinberg added, referring to King of Prussia and Galleria Dallas.

McCoy told BI that the physical space offered at these malls is perfect for "voluminous experiences."

"Think of Hollywood Studios," McCoy said, referring to the Walt Disney World theme park. "You have that opportunity to create stages. Immersive experiences where you're walking into a set. You can't do that in a small space, and you'd have to build it from scrap."

On the other hand, OptiMine Software CEO Matt Voda says securing a Netflix House venue could be a win for mall operators trying to replace anchor tenants.

"It's a way for them to avoid more boutique things that might be more expensive because the mall operators are so hungry to get consumers to show up," Voda said.

Voda added that Netflix has an "analytic advantage" over smaller brands since their data can reveal fan interests and passions — something that can steer business decisions.

"They know how many fervent fans there are in any given location, so they're able to reduce a lot of the variables that are big risks in retail," he said.

Netflix House and then Netflix World?

All three experts told BI that Netflix House could usher in a more immersive era for the company, but it's too soon to know Netflix's official endgame.

"Is this just a brand play to drive engagement and awareness of Netflix, or is there a bigger economic opportunity where they might do something like a theme park?" Voda said. "I think they would have to test this and see if it sustains itself over the years."

Steinberg leaned away from theme parks and suggested Netflix expand its permanent locations by making the experiences richer.

"That could be rides, or that could be virtual experiences," he said. "Part of it could be opening themed restaurants."

"I guess time will tell," Voda added.

• Marissa Rodriguez visited Greece on holiday and decided to stay in Athens to work on her business.
• She told Business Insider it took her time to adjust to a more relaxed lifestyle.
• She spent her first months working with clients in the US from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. while traveling.

When Marissa Rodriguez left her home in Puerto Rico to attend New York University in 2001, she didn't know she'd stay in Manhattan for two decades.

Rodriguez started working in fashion at 24 in 2007. She began her career building wholesale brands for different fashion houses.

Rodriguez told Business Insider she'd wake up at 6 a.m., go to the gym, and hustle to start work at 9 a.m. By the time she got into the office, she would already have many messages from colleagues.

"I was always rushing and always behind schedule and feeling like it was never enough," she said. Still, she had a dream apartment and thought she'd live in Manhattan for the rest of her life.

She lost her job

Rodriguez started working for C.Wonder, a company run by Chris Burch, an investor and entrepreneur, in 2013.

She told Business Insider she worked 16 hours a day some days and often worked weekends. Rodriguez said that lifestyle was the norm in New York, and she didn't question it.

When she was on holiday in January 2015, the CEO called her to tell her the company was shutting down. She lost her job immediately. Later that year, C. Wonder was acquired and started running under new management.

Rodriguez told BI they'd been working hard on a new project just before being let go. "We left feeling so good right before Christmas," she said. "It really came out of nowhere."

Rodriguez had worked since college, and her newly unemployed status was stressful, "I was on my own, so it was terrifying," she said. "But it was also an incredible moment because I had to take a pause for the first time."

She re-evaluated her career

For a few months, Rodriguez applied for jobs in fashion but left every interview feeling like she didn't want to do the role. She wanted greater autonomy and flexibility than her previous work and decided to move into consultancy.

She told BI she'd been interested in e-commerce for several years. In 2016, she launched Inspired Brands, a consultancy business that worked with e-commerce brands.

"I worked for some really weird businesses and weird clients while I was finding my footing," she said. A year into running the business, she started landing larger clients, such as Sofia Vergara and Renata Black's lingerie brand, EBY.

With her new business, Rodriguez thought she needed to stay in New York to meet clients in person. But her perspective shifted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She took a solo trip to Greece

Rodriguez decided to attend a friend's birthday party in Greece in June 2021. She'd never visited the country before and decided to take a 10-day solo vacation to Greece around the party.

"I had had three really awful relationships back to back," she said. "I thought: 'I need to go face a fear of being alone, so I'm going to go travel by myself to Greece.'"

But her 10-day vacation turned into four months of traveling around the Greek islands while working on her business.

"It was an expensive four months," she said.

She changed her lifestyle

Rodriguez said she felt like a different person in Greece. As a self-proclaimed "type-A" personality, she always had to have a plan for the day and struggled to go with the flow in New York.

While traveling, she would wake up at 9 a.m. — a welcome break from her 6 a.m. alarm in New York — and spend the day exploring. "I loved waking up in the morning when America is asleep and getting eight hours of the day to myself to do that I wanted," she said. Rodriguez would then work remotely from 3 p.m. until 10 p.m.

"All of a sudden, my entire lifestyle changed, and I found that I loved it."

Though she was traveling alone, Rodriguez said she never felt lonely. "I made so many friends," she added, "Greek people are so warm and welcoming."

Athens felt like an unexpected homecoming

Two months into her vacation, she returned to Athens, which she had passed through at the start of her trip.

"I landed in Athens and had this sense of being home," she said. "Almost like I could have been here in another life."

For Rodriguez, Athens felt like a combination of what she liked about New York — a cosmopolitan city with distinct neighborhoods that are different from each other, and Puerto Rico — everyone knowing everyone and being near the water. She wanted to stay but didn't know how.

By October, she was due to leave Greece and couldn't stay in the country any longer without a visa. She heard that the government had launched a digital nomad visa, which allows nomads who earn a minimum of $3,769 a month to live in Greece for up to three years.

Rodriguez moved back to New York and applied for a visa. Her visa was approved, and she moved to Athens in December 2021.

She told BI that finding an apartment in Athens was easy compared with New York, one of the most expensive cities in the US, where the median monthly rent is $1,574.

"From 20 years in New York, I now understand that my entire understanding of 'normal' was totally skewed," she said, adding that food is much cheaper in Athens and there's a better food delivery service.

She's getting used to lifestyle changes

At first, Rodriguez was surprised by some differences between the US and Greece. She found that apartments didn't necessarily have air conditioning or hot water, but she's relaxed into her new lifestyle.

A Greek friend became her boyfriend in August 2022. "All of the caricature differences between us exist," she said. "I'm super American and very into personal development and growth. He'll say: 'Oh my God, take a nap, relax, watch the sunset. Stop being so American.'"

Rodriguez launched an e-learning platform called "Through Experience" this year. She works on her course in the morning and with her US clients in the afternoon.

"I don't miss the hustle and bustle of New York City," she said. "The energy is just too much."

• A Korean Air flight bound for Taiwan had to turn back after a pressurization fault was detected.
• Flight data shows the plane dropped nearly 25,000 feet in five minutes shortly after takeoff.
• Korean Air said that 17 passengers received medical care after the plane landed.

A Korean Air flight bound for Taiwan had to turn back and make an emergency landing after detecting a fault with the aircraft's pressurization system.

The Boeing 737 Max 8 plane departed from Incheon International Airport at 4:45 p.m. local time on Saturday, Yonhap News Agency reported.

A pressurization fault was detected while the plane was flying over South Korea's southern Jeju Island, per Yonhap.

Roughly 30 minutes after taking off, the plane started descending sharply, dropping nearly 25,000 feet in five minutes, according to data from FlightRadar24.

Videos on social media show the campaign shaking and oxygen masks hanging from the ceiling.

Yonhap News Agency, citing information from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, reported that 15 passengers were hyperventilating and suffered from eardrum pain when the flight descended.

"We are fully cooperating with all relevant authorities to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident," a Korean Air spokesperson told Business Insider.

The spokesperson said 17 passengers were evaluated at medical facilities and were discharged without severe injuries.

The spokesperson added that the aircraft is just under 5 years old and was delivered to Korean Air in July 2022.

"Our commitment to the safety and well-being of our passengers and crew remains unchanged. We apologize to all affected by this incident," the spokesperson said.

Passengers on the affected plane reached Taichung International Airport safely on Sunday via a different flight, the Taipei Times reported.

A week of plane chaos

The Korean Air news comes after a week in which multiple planes were forced to make emergency landings for various reasons.

On Thursday, a Malaysia Airlines plane was forced to turn around and head back to Hyderabad, India. A video showed its engine on fire, with sparks flying behind it.

Also, on Thursday, a United Airlines flight from Connecticut to Colorado was cut short after a piece of its engine cover fell off during takeoff.

Boeing planes have also been plagued by issues in recent months. In January, a door plug came off a Boeing 737 Max 9 Alaska Airlines jet at 16,000 feet, resulting in a gaping hole in the plane.

Several Boeing whistleblowers have since come forward with bombshell testimonies alleging that the company cut corners with quality control.

There have also been other instances of late where commercial planes encountered sudden drops in cruising altitude that resulted in injuries.

In May, a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER airplane encountered turbulence so severe that the plane dropped 178 feet in four seconds.

The flight from London to Singapore was cruising at an altitude of 37,000 feet over Myanmar when it was thrust up and down rapidly for 62 seconds, leading to one death and over 100 injuries.

Representatives for Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.

• In a couple of months I will turn 68 and retire. 
• I'm looking forward to more travel but I'm also worried because I will need to leave California. 
• I'm a single, childless, Black woman, and decided to move to the South.

Later this year, I will turn 68, and I will retire. There's much to look forward to — more travel and a long-awaited return to doing the crafts I set aside while building a career. I'm finding, however, that I mostly feel frightened.

I'm afraid because California, where I live, is just too expensive, and I can't afford to retire here. It's a shame that I am priced out of retiring in California and have to uproot myself and start all over again in a new place.

I can't afford California

I considered staying put in Los Angeles, in the apartment I've lived in for the past 20 years. It's roomy and features high ceilings, crown moldings, French windows, and stained glass. That's nice, but I'm older now, and I want some comfort. Things like not having to climb 20 steps just to enter my living space, which is on the second floor. I'd like off-street parking and not to have to worry about moving my car to accommodate twice monthly street cleanings. I want in-unit laundry and to never again have to schlep to a coin laundry.

I've looked into moving to a different apartment. The rent on a studio or one-bedroom unit with the features I want would be $1,800 at a minimum and, depending on the neighborhood, up to $2,400 for just a basic apartment. That would be at least a $600 a month increase over what I currently pay.

I reason that if I'm going to pay that much, I should buy a house. And that means I have to leave California. A few years ago, I shopped for a house in Los Angeles. The experience was bleak. I was pre-approved for a price range of $250,000 to $300,000. Single-family homes in Southern California, which on average sell at over $780,000, were beyond my price point, so I was steered toward condos. Everything I was shown in that range was disappointing. The rooms were too small, there wasn't enough natural lighting, and the bathrooms and kitchens desperately needed updating.

I'm planning to move to the South

I knew then that I would have to move to another state, one where my budget would stretch further. There are a lot of places in this country where I can buy a nice house with a yard, a driveway, and laundry hookups. The decision was made, I then had to determine what part of the US I'm willing to move to.

For someone like me, a single, never married, childless Black woman, it's not an easy search. I am a Midwesterner from Detroit. I like the Midwest, but after 30 years in California, I can't do long winters anymore. Much of the East Coast, where I have family, is too expensive. So I settled on moving to the South, which, even in 2024, is potentially problematic for a Black person. However, it can't be denied that the cost of living in that region is better suited to my income and housing budget.

There are plenty of articles online that list the best places to retire. But none of the lists ever include racial or ethnic demographics information. When I do the research myself, invariably, the towns have minuscule BIPOC populations, and just knowing the numbers doesn't tell me how welcoming the community may be. I have no family or friends in any of the states I'm considering.

Despite my apprehensions, there is a persistent part of me that remains excited by the prospect of retiring — and of living in a new town. I'm finding some resources, such as groups I can join on social media that offer information about relocating to specific cities. AARP offers a real estate buying program that I'm looking into. Having a comfortable retirement is important to me, and I'm willing to explore other parts of the country to ensure it.

I'm ready to say farewell to California and hello to retirement.

• Columbia graduate student Gerardo Rios Garcia lives in a van for financial security and adventure.
• He drove his van from Mexico to NYC and sleeps in it while balancing school and multiple jobs.
• Although he says it's challenging and can be scary, he saves $2,000 a month and doesn't have loans.

I'm a 26-year-old graduate student at Columbia University and an intern at the United Nations who lives in a vintage Volkswagen van in Manhattan. I made this choice driven by a goal for future financial security and a thirst for adventure.

My journey into van life began when I was a kid, listening to my grandpa's stories about road trips around Mexico and the US. During my junior year of college that same van my grandpa had driven was passed down to me.

Though it was no longer in the best condition — plagued with rust, brake issues, electrical malfunctions, and motor problems — I decided to renovate it.

I got into Columbia University for graduate school, and my van was the most affordable and fun way to go

After completing my undergrad degree in business, I knew I wanted to continue my studies. I had no idea where to go, other than it had to be in North America, so I could take my van with me. I also wanted to avoid taking out loans or asking my family for financial support.

I applied and was accepted to Columbia University's MS in sustainability management program. After working full time in consulting in Mexico for two years, saving as much as possible, and selling or donating everything that wouldn't fit into my van, I set out to drive to my graduate program.

After crossing the border in Arizona, I had 2,500 miles and 10 states to cover. I experienced engine issues in Albuquerque, Kansas City, and Indianapolis, and I had to tow the van with a U-Haul at one point. Still, I made it to NYC on a Sunday morning and had orientation on Monday. My Volkswagen van became my home in September.

I wanted a lifestyle that allowed me to focus on my studies and work to secure a good professional standing while living life to the fullest and gaining as many new experiences as possible. The van was a solution that was both economically viable and incredibly liberating.

Living in a van in Manhattan is hard, scary, and stressful

At just over 46 square feet, my van poses significant challenges. I must constantly find free street parking, deal with extreme temperatures, and stay aware of my surroundings. I use the WiFi at coffee shops, libraries, restaurants, or the gym. I also typically shower at the gym.

I have a mini fridge, an electric stove powered by a solar panel, and basic cooking utensils, so I cook sometimes. I also frequent diners, Columbia's dining halls, and coffee shops for meals.

I have friends over from time to time, but because the space is small, it's not something I do very often. My mom visited me a few months ago when the weather was nice for a week, and she stayed with me in the van.

I'm more involved in my community

A small living space has encouraged me to become more engaged in my community and vastly increased my productivity. Balancing three part-time jobs — a teaching assistant position, a research assistant role, and my internship at the UN — while joining student clubs, volunteering, and maintaining a 4.0 GPA has been feasible because I don't feel the need to always be at home.

I study in the van when the weather permits, watch movies, and take naps. During the coldest months of winter and hottest parts of summer, I mainly just sleep in it.

My unconventional lifestyle has become a talking point. Colleagues and professors find my story intriguing. In the professional world, I've encountered a range of reactions, from admiration and curiosity to skepticism and judgment. These interactions have taught me valuable lessons in communication, resilience, and growth.

I've learned how to prioritize what's truly important

I now know that I want a minimalist lifestyle focused on my goals and passions, free from the distractions of excessive materialism.

Financial independence is another significant benefit of my van life. I save around $2,000 each month and avoid student loans. This freedom gives me the cushion to explore the culinary richness of NYC, play sports, attend events, and do other activities that I wouldn't be able to do otherwise.

Van life has been an incredible journey of self-discovery and growth

Van life has shown me there are endless possibilities when you choose to live authentically and embrace the unknown, but the uncertainty is the biggest challenge of this lifestyle. Not having a comfortable place to retreat and dealing with added stress can be challenging.

Materially, there's limited space, and being essentially homeless can be taxing on relationships. There's also the constant concern of potential break-ins and mechanical issues. However, I truly believe living in a van has positively impacted my professional and academic life.

I want my story to be a reminder that there are many ways to live and thrive. I like to think that my van, parked amid the urban chaos, stands as a symbol of resilience, creativity, and the enduring human spirit.

I finish my courses in December and plan to stay in the van until then. I don't intend to live in my van for an extended period after finishing school, but I haven't decided on my next steps. I'm open to exploring different opportunities and locations.

• Disney asked about 2,000 workers to move from California and be based at a new campus in Florida.
• But the $1 billion Lake Nona campus was canceled after about 200 workers had already relocated.
• Two of the workers sued Disney and said they felt they had to return to California for job security.

Two Disney workers have sued the company after it asked them to relocate from California and be based at a new Florida campus — which it later canceled.

Last May, Disney scrapped plans to build the nearly $1 billion campus in Lake Nona, Orlando. The company was on a cost-cutting spree after Bob Iger returned as CEO. Simultaneously, Disney and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had locked horns over a Florida law that limited what public schools could teach about gender identity and sexual orientation.

About 2,000 jobs, mainly in the company's parks, experiences, and products division, were set to move from one of its offices in Glendale, Southern California, to the new campus, which had been in the works since 2019.

At least 200 employees had already relocated to Florida before the project was canceled, Disney chairman Josh D'Amaro told employees in an internal email last May.

Two of these workers have now sued Disney for damages.

Maria De La Cruz, a vice president of product design, and George Fong, a creative director of product design, filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against the entertainment and theme park giant on Tuesday in the Los Angeles Superior Court.

Disney told them in August 2021 that their roles would move to the Lake Nona campus and "made it clear" that they would lose their jobs if they refused to relocate, the lawsuit said. It added that the workers were given three months to make their decision.

De La Cruz and Fong told Disney in November 2021 that they would relocate to the new campus, and both sold their homes in California and bought new homes in Orlando, the lawsuit alleged. It said that in Fong's case, he had to sell the family home he'd grown up in.

In June 2022, Disney told workers that the deadline to relocate to Florida had been pushed back to 2026 because the project's completion had been delayed, the lawsuit said. After relocating to Florida, De La Cruz and Fong worked from Disney's Kissimmee campus, the lawsuit added.

But then, in May 2023, Disney told employees that the Lake Nona project was canceled. The lawsuit said they had until the end of 2023 to decide whether to remain in Florida, and that if they wanted to return to Disney's California offices, they would have to relocate by the end of 2024.

The lawsuit said De La Cruz and Fong decided to return to California because they thought it was important for their job security, though De La Cruz has yet to relocate.

By this point, though, the real-estate markets had changed. House prices near Lake Nona slumped after Disney canceled the project.

Meanwhile, increases in mortgage rates and house prices in Los Angeles made it "impossible" for Disney workers to buy homes in the Los Angeles area that were comparable to the homes they'd sold there just a year or two beforehand, the lawsuit said.

Fong has moved to a "significantly" smaller house, the lawsuit added.

The lawsuit accuses Disney of "solicitation of employee by misrepresentation, intentional misrepresentation, concealment, and negligent misrepresentation." It claims that Disney made untrue statements about the Lake Nona campus to workers to induce workers to relocate.

Disney did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Correction: June 24, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated Ron DeSantis's title. He is the governor of Florida, not a senator.

• I'm an American mom of two kids, ages 5 and 9 months old. 
• I'm married to an Italian man and gave birth to my children here. 
• Summer camp in Italy has less structure, and my daughter eats freshly cooked meals. 

I'm an American living in Italy. I've lived here for almost 10 years and have two children, a 5-year-old daughter and a 9-month-old soon. Last year sent my daughter to summer camp for the first time and I was pleasantly surprised.

Summer camp in Italy is nothing like what we think of in the US. But there's good and bad to that, on certain ends.

Camp is cheaper in Italy

My daughter goes to camp where we live in our small town. So while I can't relate to the cost of camp in bigger cities like Rome or Milan, the camp she goes to costs 160 euros a month. Yes, a month. And that is for a full day of camp, which includes fresh lunch that is made and served on the campus.

While it's been years since I was a child and went to camp, all I know is that when I was younger and my parents sent me to a prestigious theater summer camp and it was around $2,000 a month and we're talking 20 years ago.

My child plays freely and there's less structure

At summer camps in Italy, the children are sort of like free range chickens. There are not always organized activities and the children are encouraged to play freely with their friends. Also, kids of all ages play together and they are not separated into age groups.

I like that a lot. I believe that in the summer, children should have the freedom to just have fun as opposed to a more strict routine and schedule like when they are in school. But on the other hand, children, especially at a certain age, can benefit from more structure.

My daughter learned about agriculture

Italy is a country that very much relies on the land. Italians are very proud people and want that tradition to keep going, especially when it comes to taking care of their own land and reaping the benefits.

The camp my daughter attends is based in the countryside surrounded by olive trees, cherry trees and a beautiful vegetable garden. There are also baby goats, a donkey and chickens. On the first day of camp this year, they picked fresh cherries from the cherry tree. Cleaned them. And then made fresh cherry jam. The children were sent home with bags of fresh cherries and a small jar of jam. Last year, the kids collected eggs from the chickens and made frittatas for lunch.

I love that at such a young age they are teaching children about the benefits of having and keeping land and everything that you can get from it.

She eats freshly cooked food

Food served at camps in Italy — and schools for that matter — is made fresh and on site. At my daughters camp, no processed food is served. Every day the children are served a first course (pasta, usually) and a second course. Lunch last year included pasta with beans, pasta with peas, pasta with cheese, prosciutto with fresh mozzarella, chicken cutlets with cucumber salad and baked fish with carrots. You won't see any lunchables served at camp here.

Camp in Italy is great. My daughter and all of her friends love it. Yes, it's completely different from an American camp which usually has more structure and routine, much like going to school. But that's what makes it so wonderful.

The European Commission has accused Apple of stifling competition with its App Store.

The European regulators said Apple's App Store was in breach of new tech rules as it prevents app developers from steering customers to alternatives.

The regulators said they had also opened a new probe into Apple's contractual requirements for third-party app developers and app stores.

Representatives for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal US working hours.

This is a developing story; please check back for updates.

• Some single Chinese women in their 30s are escaping the country to pursue higher education.
• These women say they believe getting another degree in the West has given them freedom.
• "37 years old is not an end for me, but a new beginning of my second life," one woman wrote on Xiaohongshu.

Some single Chinese women — fatigued from the social stigma of being unmarried and childless — are opting to run away altogether.

These women — mostly millennials in their mid to late 30s — are taking to the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu to talk about their great escape to the West.

These women, per their accounts, are enrolled in higher education in countries like France, the UK, and the US. Their personal accounts of pursuing advanced degrees have mostly been compiled under a Xiaohongshu hashtag that translates to "studying abroad at an older age." The hashtag is also going viral — more than 57.5 million people, as of press time, have viewed posts made using it.

In these diary-style posts, the women talk about how higher education in the West has been their ticket to freedom. But they also talk about the hard things — like having to learn a foreign language, getting used to being a student again in one's 30s, and the social pressures and expectations they still face back home.

The South China Morning Post spoke to some women who've posted using the viral hashtag — like "ReadySetRun," a Xiaohongshu user whose real name is Claudia Ke.

Ke told the SCMP that she left China at the age of 34 to pursue an MBA at the Burgundy School of Business in France. Despite having her own consulting company in Shanghai and all her friends being in the city, she gave that up to apply for postgraduate programs in Europe after the pandemic.

"Older Chinese women try to flee the country through higher education overseas even if they don't have a clear idea of what the future holds in a foreign country," Ke, now 35, told the SCMP.

'My second life'

Another woman who posts under the ID "Susu in Cambridge" has been cataloging her journey on Xiaohongshu too. According to Susu, she left China at 37 to pursue a PhD at the University of Cambridge.

"37 years old is not an end for me, but a new beginning of my second life. It reminds me to treasure the present and embrace the future," Susu wrote in a November Xiaohongshu post.

She added that she had received many questions from Chinese people asking her why she didn't wish to start a family and stay home for good.

"In contrast, in England, no one asks me about my age. No one cares about that number," she wrote.

She compared the freedom she has in the UK to the expectations she faces to abide by social norms in China — to graduate by 22, marry by 28, and have a child at 30, or bring embarrassment to yourself and your family.

"I think that this is what life should look like," she added. "Age is probably the least important marker one should abide by in life — and everyone should live the life they want to live."

"NEMO in Europe," another Xiaohongshu user who quit her job in China, said she moved to France at the age of 36 to study. She wrote in September that she realized she was the oldest student in her class when they were learning how to introduce themselves in French.

But she wrote that being older meant she'd had some work experience and knew more about what she was really interested in — so she could chart her own course with confidence.

"We always have the right to choose to start over," she added.

Leftover women

There are several push factors that may be motivating more Chinese millennial women to seek greener pastures abroad.

For one, an unmarried Chinese female over the age of 25 runs the risk of being branded a "leftover woman" — a deeply unflattering term for those left on the shelf.

Chinese women have also had to contend with widening gender gaps in unemployment, hours worked, and monthly salary reported throughout 2020 compared to pre-pandemic levels, per a report by Peking University's China Centre for Economic Research.

The report stated that working mothers with children under seven years of age were 43.8% more likely to be unemployed than women without children under that age. They also faced a 181% higher chance of being unemployed than working fathers with children under seven.

The physical and economic burden of childbearing and childrearing has also made some women in China not want to have children.

"I wouldn't choose to spend a part of my income on children because it's expensive. The biggest thing on my mind right now is how I am going to fund my retirement," Emily Huang, 29, told BI's Kevin Tan in February.

Despite China ditching its controversial one-child policy and introducing a three-child policy in 2021 to boost its plummeting birth rate, its population shrank in 2022 for the first time since the early 1960s.

The population count declined again in 2023 when the number of deaths exceeded the number of births by 2.08 million people.

Another push factor not specific to women is China's grueling corporate culture. The pervasive 9-9-6 corporate grind means many workers have had to get used to working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week.

And that is for those who have secured jobs. Around 14.9% of youth in China are unemployed, according to China's National Bureau of Statistics, owing to a poor job market that's still struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic crash.