IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/poprpr/v44y2025i3d10.1007_s11113-025-09959-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Housing Cost Burden, Housing Price Growth, and Migrant Health in Urban China

Author

Listed:
  • Jingjing Cheng

    (Northeastern University)

  • Ying Huang

    (University of Texas at San Antonio
    University of Texas at San Antonio)

Abstract

High levels of housing cost burden and housing price growth are each associated with poor health outcomes. Using data from the 2017 China Migrants Dynamic Survey and the China Statistical Yearbook (2008, 2018), this study examines the relationship between housing cost burden and migrants’ health in urban China and tests whether city‑level housing price growth mitigates or exacerbates this association. Logistic hierarchical models show that both higher housing cost burden and faster housing price growth are linked to a lower likelihood of reporting good health among migrants. The adverse health effects of housing cost burden are strongest in cities experiencing rapid price growth, particularly for migrants with urban hukou. These findings underscore the compounding negative effects of housing cost burden and housing price growth on migrants’ health.

Suggested Citation

  • Jingjing Cheng & Ying Huang, 2025. "Housing Cost Burden, Housing Price Growth, and Migrant Health in Urban China," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 44(3), pages 1-23, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:poprpr:v:44:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s11113-025-09959-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s11113-025-09959-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11113-025-09959-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11113-025-09959-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Songtao Wang & Minqian Luo & Bin Li, 2023. "The Impact of Income Inequality on Health of Chinese Residents — Decomposition Based on Individual Effect and Macro Effect," Asian Social Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 19(2), pages 1-15, April.
    2. Rachel Meltzer & Alex Schwartz, 2016. "Housing Affordability and Health: Evidence From New York City," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(1), pages 80-104, January.
    3. Liping Liao & Wenjie Wu & Chenglei Zhang, 2022. "Housing prices and the subjective well-being of migrant workers: evidence from China," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(7), pages 3363-3388, October.
    4. Sheng Li & Lanlan Wang & Kuo-Liang Chang, 2018. "Do internal migrants suffer from housing extreme overcrowding in urban China?," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(5), pages 708-733, July.
    5. Linna Li & Yansui Liu, 2020. "Understanding the Gap Between De Facto and De Jure Urbanization in China: A Perspective from Rural Migrants’ Settlement Intention," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(2), pages 311-338, April.
    6. Shomon Shamsuddin & Colin Campbell, 2022. "Housing Cost Burden, Material Hardship, and Well-Being," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(3), pages 413-432, May.
    7. Hamoudi, A. & Dowd, J.B., 2013. "Physical health effects of the housing boom: Quasi-experimental evidence from the health and retirement study," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 103(6), pages 1039-1045.
    8. Cutts, D.B. & Meyers, A.F. & Black, M.M. & Casey, P.H. & Chilton, M. & Cook, J.T. & Geppert, J. & De Cuba, S.E. & Heeren, T. & Coleman, S. & Rose-Jacobs, R. & Frank, D.A., 2011. "US housing insecurity and the health of very young children," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 101(8), pages 1508-1514.
    9. Jaesang Sung & Qihua Qiu, 2020. "The Impact of Housing Prices on Health in the United States Before, During, and After the Great Recession," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 86(3), pages 910-940, January.
    10. Dorien Manting & Tom Kleinepier & Christian Lennartz, 2024. "Housing trajectories of EU migrants: between quick emigration and shared housing as temporary and long-term solutions," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(4), pages 1027-1048, April.
    11. Xu, Yuanwei & Wang, Feicheng, 2022. "The health consequence of rising housing prices in China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 114-137.
    12. Chen, Juan, 2011. "Internal migration and health: Re-examining the healthy migrant phenomenon in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(8), pages 1294-1301, April.
    13. Poortinga, Wouter, 2006. "Social capital: An individual or collective resource for health?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 292-302, January.
    14. Min Zhou & Wei Guo, 2023. "Self-rated Health and Objective Health Status Among Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China: A Healthy Housing Perspective," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(1), pages 1-24, February.
    15. Nanqian Chen & Yanpei Shen & Hailun Liang & Rui Guo, 2021. "Housing and Adult Health: Evidence from Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-13, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hong Chen & Jia Yu & Mingshuai Qin & Yangyang Wang & Lijian Qin, 2023. "Unlocking Opportunities for Migrant Workers in China: Analyzing the Impact of Health Insurance on Hukou Switching Intentions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-15, April.
    2. Hembre, Erik & Collins, J. Michael & Wylde, Samuel, 2024. "A rising tide lifts all homes? Housing consumption trends for low-income households since the 1980s," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    3. Liyan Huang & Rosli Said & Hong Ching Goh & Yu Cao, 2023. "The Residential Environment and Health and Well-Being of Chinese Migrant Populations: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-23, February.
    4. Swope, Carolyn B. & Hernández, Diana, 2019. "Housing as a determinant of health equity: A conceptual model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    5. Emylia Terry & Jennifer Pharr & Renato M. Liboro & Courtney Coughenour & Krystal Kittle & John Waldron & Jason D. Flatt, 2024. "Identifying and Ranking Strategies to Address Housing Insecurity and Homelessness Within the LGBTQIA+ Community in Southern Nevada: Utilization of Community-Based Participatory Research and Concept Ma," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(12), pages 1-12, November.
    6. Sun, Nan & Yang, Fan, 2021. "Impacts of internal migration experience on health among middle-aged and older adults—Evidence from China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    7. Meng, Xin & Xue, Sen, 2017. "Social Networks and Mental Health Problems: Evidence from Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China," IZA Discussion Papers 10481, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Chen, Yuanyuan & Wang, Haining & Cheng, Zhiming & Smyth, Russell, 2023. "Education and Migrant Health in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    9. Melissa P L Chan & Robert S Weinhold & Reuben Thomas & Julia M Gohlke & Christopher J Portier, 2015. "Environmental Predictors of US County Mortality Patterns on a National Basis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(12), pages 1-25, December.
    10. Ball, Kylie & Cleland, Verity J. & Timperio, Anna F. & Salmon, Jo & Giles-Corti, Billie & Crawford, David A., 2010. "Love thy neighbour? Associations of social capital and crime with physical activity amongst women," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(4), pages 807-814, August.
    11. Min Zhou & Wei Guo, 2023. "Self-rated Health and Objective Health Status Among Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China: A Healthy Housing Perspective," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(1), pages 1-24, February.
    12. Xin Meng & Sen Xue, 2020. "Social networks and mental health outcomes: Chinese rural–urban migrant experience," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(1), pages 155-195, January.
    13. De Clercq, B. & Vyncke, V. & Hublet, A. & Elgar, F.J. & Ravens-Sieberer, U. & Currie, C. & Hooghe, M. & Ieven, A. & Maes, L., 2012. "Social capital and social inequality in adolescents’ health in 601 Flemish communities: A multilevel analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 202-210.
    14. Zhen Wang & Mingzhi Hu & Yu Zhang & Zhuo Chen, 2022. "Housing Security and Settlement Intentions of Migrants in Urban China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-16, August.
    15. Swann, Christopher A., 2017. "Household history, SNAP participation, and food insecurity," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 1-9.
    16. Harris Hyun-soo Kim, 2018. "Investigating the Associations between Ethnic Networks, Community Social Capital, and Physical Health among Marriage Migrants in Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, January.
    17. Lorenzo Rocco & Elena Fumagalli & Marc Suhrcke, 2014. "From Social Capital To Health – And Back," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(5), pages 586-605, May.
    18. Antonio C. David & Carmen A. Li, 2010. "Exploring the links between HIV|AIDS, social capital and development," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(7), pages 941-961.
    19. Juan Ming & Jiachun Liu & Zicheng Wang, 2020. "Does the Homeownership Gap Between Rural–Urban Migrants and Urban–Urban Migrants in China Vary by Income?," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(4), pages 21582440209, November.
    20. Fiorillo, Damiano & Sabatini, Fabio, 2015. "Structural social capital and health in Italy," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 129-142.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:poprpr:v:44:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s11113-025-09959-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.