Actually, China also has a similar "kill line" as the United States

Middle-class kill line

In the next 10 years,
There will definitely be opportunities to see a large number of middle and upper-middle class fall back to the common people

Many people around me with middle and upper-middle incomes are all experiencing a drop in social class
They don't even need their unproductive descendants to fall behind
Their own generation is already rapidly declining
Some are long-term unemployed,
The entire family’s income drops to zero or significantly decreases;

Some suffer from serious illness and lose the ability to earn money;
Or make mistakes in buying property or investments, losing millions annually,
All of these cause the wealth they accumulated in previous years to rapidly evaporate,
Or make it impossible to maintain their original standard of living,
They start to cut costs and increase income

A friend graduated from university and by age 28,
Six years of smooth sailing,
Official employee at a state-owned enterprise, fully paid-off house and car,
Investing in side businesses, holding 800,000 in savings.
He traded in cryptocurrencies for two years, a "dog coin," and is 30 years old this year,
With 1.2 million in debt.

Another friend invested over 2 million in cryptocurrencies,
Gradually, at the peak, A8,
On October 11, everything was wiped out.

Retirement is still a long way off,
If a few more years pass without improvement,
He will definitely become similar to the "middle-class kill line."

If you don’t work hard but don’t make trouble, you will gradually become poor
If you work very hard but mess up the rhythm, you will suddenly become poor
So, where is the meaning of working hard?