Young women and a new mindset about finance.

For a long time, many people thought the safest path for a girl was to finish school, find a stable job at a large company or government agency, and then get married. However, recently, as office work is no longer a life-saving insurance policy, many young women are beginning to change their thinking. For them, money is not just for shopping, but has become a foundation for self-protection and living a life of their own choosing.

Go far away to find yourself.

For Liu Danru, a woman in her thirties, the turning point came after seven years as an economic reporter in China. Witnessing others' success day after day, she realized she was tired of watching them live the life she envied. The turning point came when she interviewed a female executive her age who ran a business in Egypt.

Liu Danru recounted, "I had never met anyone my age who had such a worldview ."

Her decision to quit her job and move to Saudi Arabia to work in media in 2023 was initially considered reckless. She didn't know the local language, her English wasn't fluent, and she only knew about Saudi Arabia through television. In a foreign land, she faced many difficulties, from cultural differences to harassment on the street. Instead of complaining or arguing online, Dan Nhu chose a more practical approach: she bought her own car for safer transportation, learned how to work with local officials, and quietly accumulated experience.

A year later, she decided to raise the stakes in her life. She quit her salaried job and went around pitching to large companies to become a branch manager. She shared, "I didn't want to look for a job anymore; I wanted to create my own. I wanted to be judged by my work results and by my own growth."

That bold move paid off. She helped the company expand its market to the UAE and Egypt, and her income tripled. Although her current life is sometimes turbulent, caught between sales pressure and political turmoil in the Middle East, she remains happy because of her freedom: "More than money, what I pursue is freedom. But that kind of freedom must be supported by ability. Even if I leave the company, as long as I have the ability, I can still support myself."

Liu Danru poses for a selfie with her Saudi Arabian colleagues in 2025. Photo provided by the subject.

Side hustles and the narrow confines of the workplace.

If Dan Ru's story is an adventure, then Cici's journey, a young woman in her early twenties in Shanghai, begins with the pressures of making ends meet. Growing up with a single mother who worked as a factory worker, Cici used to feel very insecure because her name was always on the school's list of recipients for hardship assistance.

To support herself, even during her student years, Cici worked various jobs, from photo modeling and illustrating to acting as a go-between for brands and celebrities. She recalled, "As soon as I started earning my own money, my life completely opened up."

Upon graduating and starting her first full-time job at an advertising agency, Cici realized the restrictive environment wasn't a good fit for her. She aptly put it this way: "If I were a perfectly round figure, those office positions would all be like molds with distorted shapes."

That feeling of confinement led Cici and many other young Chinese people her age to seek side jobs. For Cici, working extra not only helped her earn money to renovate her mother's house in her hometown and donate to charity, but also allowed her to do what she wanted. Now that she has opened her own small company, Cici chooses a slower pace of life, knowing when enough is enough, and dedicating a portion of her income to enjoying the present instead of sacrificing her health for money.

She wondered, "Do you think people who are always living with excessive ambition and never feel satisfied can be happy in the present?"

Cici on a trip, 2024. Photo: Provided by the subject.

When money is a "shield" and autonomy

Regarding the story from abroad and the perspective of young Vietnamese women on this phenomenon, sociologists and psychologists believe that the trend of "earning money practically" by girls like Dan Nhu or Cici is not a whim, but an inevitable change in the face of so much upheaval in the world around them.

This shift is evidenced by compelling statistics. A report from the China New Employment Research Center reveals a historic movement: young people in China are gradually abandoning the pursuit of a single, lifelong job in favor of a "multi-identity, multi-income" model. Notably, over 40% of those currently working side hustles on digital platforms have supplementary income accounting for up to 30% of their total monthly earnings. This trend is particularly rapid among women. On Xianyu alone – a large service and skills trading platform for China's Gen Z – more than 8 million female users are earning over 10,000 yuan per month (approximately 35 million VND) through freelance work ranging from consulting and design to AI application.

From a psychological and social perspective, experts analyze that the old formula for happiness of the previous generation—study hard, find a stable job, then get married—is gradually revealing its shortcomings in the face of the fierce competition of the market. Young women proactively and openly discussing their desire to earn money and have side jobs is essentially a way for them to free themselves from the invisible pressures of East Asian social prejudices. When they are financially independent, they have the right to choose the life they want, instead of struggling to work while constantly fearing that the company will lay off staff someday.

Young Chinese women share their perspectives on startup finance and legal matters during a podcast recording session in Fujian, 2026.

A perspective from the reality in Vietnam.

The practical mindset and desire to be in control of one's own finances, like Dan Nhu or Cici, is no longer unique to other countries. Looking at Vietnam, we can easily find similar examples. In major cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, there is a strong wave of young women starting their own online businesses, creating online content, or taking on extra work after their regular office hours. Many young women in their twenties have been able to buy houses, cars, or support their families through their own labor.

However, behind these inspiring stories lies a worrying dark side: a generation silently burning out. The pressure to succeed early, to be financially independent before the age of 30 to keep up with their friends on social media, is pushing many young women into the trap of "work addiction." Taking on too many part-time jobs is no longer a fun experience, but a vicious cycle that erodes both their health and mental well-being. Many fall into a state of exhaustion and persistent anxiety as their lives revolve around work deadlines and numbers flashing on screens.

Even more frightening, the desire to make quick money to prove oneself sometimes turns young women into prey for scammers. Traps like "easy work, high pay," recruitment for commission-based collaborators, or virtual investment platforms are rampant online. Due to impatience and lack of experience, many young people have fallen victim to financial losses and accumulated large debts at a very young age, leading to severe psychological trauma.

When the old formulas for stability are no longer a guarantee, women choose to rely on themselves—a courageous choice. However, along with independence, they need to equip themselves not only with the ability to earn money, but also with a filter to avoid being swept into the vortex of impatience or exhaustion. Therefore, only when women know how to manage money intelligently and know when enough is enough can they truly possess a free life, unbound by prejudice, and unshaken by any storm.

Source: sixthtone.com

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/phu-nu-tre-va-tu-duy-moi-ve-tai-chinh-238260523154403421.htm