“My life is elsewhere”: social exclusion and rural migrants’ consumption of homeownership in contemporary China

Abstract

This paper examines the consumption of homeownership by migrant workers who are long-time residents in Beijing, but purchase real estate properties elsewhere. Most of these workers do not plan to move into their properties any time soon. So for them, homes are less the space they physically inhabit, but rather what anchors their hopes and aspirations and thus transform their class identities by generating feelings of security, fulfillment, and upward social mobility. This paper examines how social exclusion in the urban village and the lure of a booming real estate market cultivate a rural migrant desire for homeownership elsewhere. Many

Self-reported Symptoms of Depression Among Chinese Rural-to-Urban Migrants and Left-Behind Family Members

“… 29 Previous studies have explored the urban economic and social exclusion of rural-to-urban migrants and the ways in which they are excluded. 4 , 5 , 6 One study that used subjective measures of socioeconomic status showed that migrants had higher likelihood of economic isolation, 30 while another found migration led to divided social identities and social stigma. 31 Our results support the literature that suggests that economic and social deprivation could translate into poor mental health.…”

“…Hukou affiliation is linked to the provisioning of social services (eg, schooling, types of jobs and employee benefits, housing opportunities). 3 This implies that rural-to-urban migrants are generally excluded from social welfare services, 4 , 5 , 6 with a potential impact on mental health, particularly for women and now-older migrants who moved during the earlier, more restrictive hukou environment. 7 , 8 , 9 For older rural-to-urban migrants who faced a more restrictive system, this may be associated with poorer mental health compared with their younger counterparts.…”

Toward Human-Centered Urbanization? Housing Ownership and Access to Social Insurance Among Migrant Households in China

“…Research on migrants in mega-cities such as Beijing shows that settlement intention is not as high as expected [42,43]. Being excluded socially, spatially, and institutionally compels migrants to purchase homes anywhere but in the destination cities, even if they do not plan on moving into them soon [44]. Studies have consistently shown that stronger integration in host society contributes to stronger inclination to stay, whether it is better or more secure employment [45,46], higher stakes of personal investment such as entrepreneurship or self-employment [47,48], or more sociocultural and emotional ties [48][49][50].…”

The New Urbanisation Plan and permanent urban settlement of migrants in Chongqing, China

“…This principle is actually in conflict with what migrants prefer: moving to large cities. Although the smaller municipalities have offered migrants equal residence status, public services and urban benefits in these places have remained severely limited or lacking (F. Wu & Webster, ; Zhan, ). In between them, medium‐sized cities, especially regional capital cities, have been more accessible for migrants with a preference for permanent urban settlement (B. Li et al, ; L. Lin & Zhu, ).…”

“…A long‐standing cultural tradition in Chinese society is that legally owning an urban residence greatly increases one's sense of security when living in the city. Furthermore, in the context of house price inflation, buying a home is considered an effective way for a family to accumulate wealth (Kochan, ; Zhan, ). As previously explained, the public rental housing programme in the core of Chongqing is ownership oriented, which provides migrants with a reliable and affordable pathway to realise their preference for permanent urban settlement through buying public rental housing.…”