Faced with a tough job market, a record-low birthrate, and the general exhaustion of being alive in the 21st century, young adults in China have found a cheaper, lower-maintenance alternative to pets or children: raising bricks.

Bricks may not be as cuddly as cats or as life-affirming as human offspring, but they cost next to nothing - a key selling point for a generation that has largely given up on the traditional markers of adulthood. "No cats, no dating, I started raising a brick," wrote one brick parent on social media, in what may be the most efficient summary of an entire socioeconomic crisis ever committed to text.

The hobby is easier than house plants, involving spraying the brick with water a few times a day and waiting for moss spores already present in the atmosphere to attach themselves and grow. One Chinese media article praised the bricks as being "practically immortal," noting: "If you forget to water them, the moss goes dormant. If you remember to water them again, the greenery returns" - a resilience that surely says something profound about the human condition, though we'd rather not dwell on it.

A hashtag related to the trend has attracted more than 5 million views on Weibo, the Chinese social media platform. Commentators have linked the phenomenon to young people looking for low-effort routes to finding meaning in life. One brick parent told Chinese media the hobby created "a sense of accomplishment no less than completing a long-term project" - which is technically true, in the same way that staring at a wall is technically an activity.

On Xiaohongshu, the Instagram-like platform also known as Rednote, one user posted a picture of their rusty-coloured brick baby, saying "no output required, no KPIs to hit, no need to beg it to bloom [and] no comparing its growth with others." Another user wrote: "My friends asked if I'd lost my mind. I said no, I'm just starting to raise a brick." A third offered the sort of insight that makes you want to lie down on the floor: "A brick gives me a sense of certainty that feels way more grounded than a lot of relationships. Psychologists call this 'zero-energy emotional companionship.' It fulfils your need for company without demanding any obligation to give love in return."

The trend makes a certain grim sense. Chinese young people are increasingly shunning traditional expectations - having children, grinding out long hours in strenuous jobs - assuming they can find one in the first place. Nearly one in five 16- to 24-year-olds, excluding students, are unemployed, according to official statistics, and some estimates put the rate considerably higher. China's birthrate is in stubborn decline and fell to a record low last year. Faced with a sluggish job market after years of study in an intensely competitive educational environment, many young people are choosing to drop out of the rat race and opt instead for "lying flat" - pursuing a low-effort, low-stress lifestyle, which, it turns out, is ideally suited to raising bricks.

The trend has grown so popular that Chinese media has started warning about health risks. Cultivating moss can lead to the spread of mould, with some brick parents reportedly complaining of itchy eyes and a runny nose. Xuedong Li, a retired moss professor from Beijing's Capital Normal University, urged brick parents to raise their mossy babies in an enclosed environment. "It is best to wear disposable gloves and a mask during handling to reduce spore inhalation and skin contact," Li told Chinese media - advice that applies equally to the brick and, arguably, to the economy.