Does Rural-to-Urban Migration Necessarily Lead to Happiness? The Role of Homeownership

Rural-to-urban migration has become increasingly prevalent, yet its implications for migrants’ well-being remain insufficiently understood. Although migration is often motivated by the pursuit of an improved quality of life, our findings suggest a more complex reality. Drawing on 196,265 observations from the 2011 and 2012 waves of the China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS), we find that only about half of rural-to-urban migrants reported greater happiness in their urban destinations compared to their hometowns. Regression analysis identifies a key factor contributing to migrants’ lower relative happiness in cities: barriers to homeownership. Further analysis reveals three mechanisms through which renting adversely affects migrants’ well-being by hindering social integration, family unification, and access to public services. These findings contribute to the theoretical critique of purely economic migration models, which typically predict net utility gains from migration, and highlight the urgent need to address the housing challenges faced by this growing urban population.