Homeownership and fertility intentions among migrant population in urban China

Abstract

This study examines how homeownership is associated with fertility intentions among migrant population in urban China. Using data from the 2017 China Migrants Dynamic Survey, after controlling for a wide range of household demographical and socioeconomic characteristics and city fixed effects, we find that homeowners are on average 1.12 percentage points more likely to desire future children than renters. The estimated homeownership effect has on average a 7.8% increase in the desire for future children. This result is robust to a series of different model specifications. Moreover, we find that the homeownership effect on fertility intentions mainly occurs in households without children. Homeowners having full property ownership have a higher desire for future children than renters. On the contrary, those having joint ownership of property do not differ much from renters in terms of the desire for future children.