Freeter is a Japanese expression for people between the age of 15 and 34 who lack full time employment or are unemployed¹, excluding homemakers and students. They may also be described as underemployed or freelance workers.

“飞特”是日语里用来指代15到34岁之间没有稳定工作或者失业在家的年轻人，这当中不包括家庭主妇和学生。他们有时也被称为失业人员或者自由职业者。

The word freeter or freeta was first used around 1987 or 1988 and is thought to be an amalgamation² of the English word free (or perhaps freelance) and the German word Arbeiter ("worker").

“飞特”的英文拼法freeter或freeta于1987或1988年首次使用，据说是英文单词free（自由）或freelance（自由职业）和德语单词Arbeiter（工人）的合成形式。

These people do not start a career after high school or university but instead usually live as so called parasite³ singles with their parents and earn some money with low skilled and low paid jobs.

这些人高中或者大学毕业后没有正式工作，而是跟父母住在一起过着所谓“单身寄生虫”的生活，偶尔从事一些低技术含量、低报酬的工作赚点钱。