Initiated from the establishment of the PRC, the iron rice bowl was one of the main slogans for communism: the Chinese Communist Party was supposed to provide job opportunities for everyone.[6] The CCP's promise to the Chinese people was crucial because almost half of the urban labor force was experiencing unemployment when the party took control.[4] Due to the Japanese invasion and the Civil War directly afterwards, the Republic of China (ROC) suffered from hyperinflation from 1948 to 1949.