BEIJING - Nearly four in 10 college-educated young adults in big cities are failing to make ends meet, a recent survey has reported.

Thirty-eight percent of young adults working in big cities say they have to ask their parents for money and 86.6 percent say they are suffering from living pressures, according to survey results released by the social survey center of China Youth Daily.

The multi-choice survey polled 4,687 people on www.minyi.net.cn, a major online survey center in China. The respondents do not belong to the "NEET" group, which means people "not in education, employment or training". Instead, all of them have received a college education and are currently employed.

Among these young people, 3.1 percent get all of their living expenses from their parents, while 23.5 percent say they rely on their own income, the survey shows.

"A tradition in China is that parents should make a better life for their children," Lu Yilong, a professor with Renmin University of China, was quoted by as saying China Youth Daily.

"The tradition has an advantage in that young people can have better conditions for their development. But the young people shouldn't depend on this advantage. Instead, they should further promote themselves on the basis of favorable conditions," Lu said.

As for the money from their parents, 52 percent of the respondents say they use it to purchase a home. Some 46.3 percent use their parents' money for weddings and 17.3 percent use it to buy cars. And then 14.2 percent use it for living expenses, 13.6 percent for raising children and 10.9 percent for renting apartments.

"Though I believe all adults should be self-reliant, it's OK for parents to help their child buy a house," said Wang Tianxiang, a 25-year-old Beijinger.

"After all, unaffordable houses are a nationwide problem," he said.

By March, the average price for new houses in Beijing has risen to 31,680 yuan ($4,700) per square meter and 14,180 yuan for existing housing, according to statistics recently released by the Central Plains.

"The housing prices are so high in Beijing that it takes the savings of three generations in a household to afford one house," Yao Jingyuan, the chief economist of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), was quoted as saying by www.chinanews.com.cn.

The latest data from the Ministry of Land and Resources shows the average housing price across the nation surged 25.1 percent in 2009, reaching 4,474 yuan per sq m.

At the same time, the annual per capita disposable income of urban residents in China in 2009 was 17,175 yuan and the net per capita income of rural residents was 5,153 yuan, according to the NBS.

"The leading class has guided the overall consumption in the society, driving up the appetite of all other classes," said Yan Ye, a professor with the North China Institute of Science and Technology.

"However, with incomplete social security and high expectations, most people feel the pressure of living," Yan said. "That's exactly what we call the 'sandwiched class'."

In the survey, 86.6 percent of the respondents say they feel living pressure and 46.4 percent think the pressure is extremely high.

Life pressure descends with the increase in income. While 91 percent of the least-paid say they feel life pressures, 33.3 percent who earn the best salaries say they do not feel life pressures.

The survey also shows that life pressures have passed from the young working people to their parents' generation. Among the respondents, 46.9 percent are forced to live with their parents. Moreover, 73.2 percent of the respondents say that their parents are cutting their own expenditures to support them.

"I think it reflects that the young adults are irresponsible," said Niu Minhao, a 25-year-old white-collar worker in Beijing.

However, Niu also said he will turn to his parents for help when he buys a house in the future.

Although 38 percent of the respondents say they are spending the money of their parents, 66.8 percent of that group say they are reluctant to receive the money.

Meanwhile, 17.4 percent say they can't afford the expensive life in big cities on their own and 17.4 percent say their parents have the responsibility to support their adult children.