Report Finds China Millennials Make More Than American Teachers

ShekouDaily   |   April 19, 2018

During nationwide outrage and protests over teacher pay in the United States last month, one Arizona teacher decided to post her pay stub on social media.


Milich makes about $35,490 per year; which she says works out to $639 bi-weekly after taxes and health care for her family is taken out. After taking 60 hours in professional development classes, her pay stub does project an increase to her annual salary next year… a whopping $131.

(Milich noted that the 1998 “issue date” on the document refers to when her teaching certificate was issued, not when she got the pay stub.)

According to a 2017 KPMG Survey entitled: “China’s Connected Consumers: The Rise of Millennials,” the average monthly income of Millennials is currently Rmb 11,738, a little lower than the rest of the population at Rmb12,423.

11,738 RMB equates to 1,898 USD; which would be a $22,776 annual salary, $12,714 less than Milich’s annual salary. However, the bi-weekly take home pay for a Millennial in Shenzhen earning 11,738 per month, for example, would be $739 compared to Milich’s $639. This is at the current exchange rate of 1 Chinese Yuan = 0.1617 USD and according to Dezan Shira’s Individual Income Tax (IIT) Calculator in China found here.

UPDATE: the following supporting information was added to this article at 1:30 pm.

  • Chinese Millennials are people between the ages 18-35 years old. 20% of which hold an Associate Degree, 56% a Bachelors Degree and 23% a Masters Degree, according to Daxue Consulting.
  • Milich has been in education for seven years.
  • The average salary of a school teacher in Arizona is $47,218, compared to the national average of $58,353 according to National Education Association Research.
  • Milich told reporters that she often has to pay for student supplies like tape and markers out of her own pocket. 
  • Milich told reporters that she also is still paying off her student loans 20 years after graduating from college.
  • “I paid 80,000 for a college degree, I then paid several hundred more to transfer my certification to Az,” Milich wrote on Facebook.


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